Cynthia answers Mike

WOULD YOU LIKE A BLESSING?

All were baptized into Stewart Traill. In every sense of the word: his teaching, his concepts, his view on life, his skepticism of other Christians. Go and learn what this means.

Blessed is he and blessed is she who is able to get free from the grip of Stewart Traill and the Church of Bible Understanding, and those who are able to overcome his lies and curses will have a great reward.

OUR ENCOUNTER WITH MIKE MONTOYA'S X-COBU LIST


Mike Montoya said in posts made on his xCobu Yahoo site, "many had questions about our ministry: Living Water," in response, on the afternoon of January 1st, 2011, we posted 'The Oil Blessing' on several xCobu sites, a statement about our ministry and Jan Hilton shared: her story of freedom.

Mike Montoya made this post to us at around 1 am on January 4th, 2011, then he promptly canceled the xCobu Yahoo memberships of: Dave Simmons, Tod Burros, Jan Hilton and Dan Cooper, members of Living Water, by noon that day, before any of them even got home from work, so that they had no access to Mike's site in order to even view it, nor were they able to respond to the post he made to us on his xCobu Yahoo site.

My husband Dave, Tod Burros, who had been an active member on Mike's xCobu Yahoo site for 7 years, and Dan Cooper wrote replies to Mike's post here on our Free from the Grip site, and made Mike M aware of them. I've also decided to share my thoughts. He has yet to acknowledge any of these replies.

The post Mike made to us is in black, any scripture references are in blue and the RSV (Revised Standard Version of the Bible) was used, my comments are in orange, I also use brown to emphasize a point, purple for questions and other expressions, green for definitions and inserts within an existing dialog, and navy blue for subheadings.
The posts that prompted Mike to cancel the memberships: Dave and my account of 'The Oil Blessing,' is in green, Jan Hilton's testimony of freedom is in purple, an additional personal letter I wrote is also in purple, also included is an additional post made on Aug. 14, 2013, by Dave on the Cobu Stories site, since it was on the same subject of the one here, which is also in green. Mike's post is on it's own in black.

Due to the many current comments that Mike Montoya has been posting on Cobu Stories about Dave Simmons and Living Water, I've also decided to respond and address my thoughts of what occurred. To this day Mike has not acknowledged the responses that were made to this public post that he made on his xCobu Yahoo site ~ yet he makes public demands of us!

This page is to give our perspective for any who care to view it, for there is a time to keep silence, and a time to speak. Ecc 3:7.

I am extending a challenge: If you have viewed posts where our ministry: Living Water, and the characters of:
my husband Dave Simmons, Tod Burros, and my own character ~ have come into question:

  • ~ I would appreciate if you would take the time to read this page.

  • ~ Yes, I know it is more than lengthy, with many repeats: as I reply to repetitive comments, include a lot of scripture, and many personal experiences.

  • ~ Yet I challenge you to review what seems to have become a public harassment: of who we are ~ who did what when ~ and other questions:

  • ~ especially on Cobu Stories currently and on the xCobu Yahoo site in the past,

  • ~ we continue not to participate in any open slug fest, which is not a good witness, yet that doesn't mean that we don't have our own perspective.

  • ~ If you are interested in Christian fairness ~ take the time to review what I've written here, even some experiences we may have had with you!

  • ~ My aim is to: both reply to the letter addressed to my husband Dave and to our fellowship: Living Water and to present my own perspective of things that have occurred,

  • ~ for the most part we have stayed out of "the xCobu public eye" and have chosen to seek God and lift up those who are in our immediate circle of prayer partners.

  • I did not appreciate the many provocations that presented themselves by "the injured party" as it was said, but at the same time I did not feel that we have been given a fair trial.

  • You may view this page as just "a wife giving a piece of her mind" ~ yet there are forces at work that would like to rob blessings that may have been received in peace, if cold water had not been thrown on something that God put into our hands.

  • All I can say is that my husband and I have always tried to do the very best that we can to extend the hope that has been placed within us by our heavenly Father and there are some that very much appreciated what we've been able to extend in faith,

  • ~ and to hopefully reach some peace ~ to something that seems to be escalating ~ and spiraling out of control.

  • ~ If you've had a calling that you've extended to others ~ and then were continually challenged ~ you may understand what I'm sharing here.

  • ~ Some things you may think are not necessary to share ~ yet I present what we've walked through in regard to our character ~ that's come into question.


    • Thank you so very much for your time and consideration of the things that I present here, Cynthia Simmons.


    Cynthia Simmons Responds To Mike Montoya

    Re: The question of the Oil 1/4/2011

    Since I have asked now, I think, 2 different times for your permission to ask you questions about your ministry, Dave,

    No Greeting, No Question, by the Moderator who Questions Ministries

    Dear Mike,

    I've decided to also weigh in on the post that you made on your xCobu Yahoo site addressed to my husband Dave, about your concerns and our ministry.

  • ~ Do you notice Mike, that you extended no greeting to us at all?

    •
  • ~ You offered no: "Dear brothers and sisters of Living Water" nor "Dear Dave" nor "Dear Tod."

  • ~ I also noticed, that although YOU sight as the SUBJECT of this letter: The question of the Oil,

  • ~ you don't mention anything about "The question of the Oil" anywhere in YOUR entire letter!

  • ~ Yet you start right in with a baseless accusation!

    •
  • ~ Because a couple of days before you wrote this:

  • ~ Dave and I had already provided to YOU and YOUR xCobu Yahoo site,

  • ~ a complete outline of our ministry, titled: The Oil Blessing,

  • ~ and in the very first paragraph we said that we wrote it: to answer questions about our ministry,

  • ~ Jan Hilton made a lengthy post of her LW experiences through the years, after reading that YOU were interested,

  • ~ Dan Cooper asked if he could post his own experience of receiving The Oil Blessing,

  • ~ since YOU wrote that YOU and those on YOUR site had questions about it,

  • ~ and Tod Burros fielded questions about our ministry from those on your site for two whole weeks!

  • ~ Yet in this post YOU acted as though "no one responded to YOU at all!"

  • ~ Take a moment and read the Post that we put on YOUR xCobu Yahoo site,

  • ~ titled: "The Oil Blessing" => (to read click here),

  • ~ our response to YOUR: "we have questions about your ministry."

  • ~ Perhaps if YOU read it now with fresh eyes you may see that Dave and I very clearly presented:

  • ~ what our ministry is all about, whether you have an interest in it or not.

  • ~ Many of the things YOU've presented in this post were clearly addressed in it,

  • ~ so that it seemed as though YOU hadn't even read it!'

    •
  • ~ Why are we even surprised: that YOU would be far more energetic posturing: "that YOU HAVE questions"

  • ~ than being into "actually reading something" that may "answer those questions"

  • ~ that YOU just haven't quite figured out yet how to frame!?

  • ~ YOU couldn't have truly wanted answers to any questions,

  • ~ because shortly after these few posts that we provided to YOU and YOUR site,

  • ~ YOU canceled the memberships of Dan, Jan, Tod and Dave, and prevented any further conversations.

  • ~ Perhaps you're still trying to formulate, "what it is exactly that YOU want to know!"

    •

    LW replied to Mike yet he made no response


  • ~ YOU've confessed that: it took YOU two WHOLE years, to even read:

  • ~ Tod's response to: this letter YOU posted: "Tod answers Mike" => (to read click here)

  • ~ Yet to this day YOU haven't even bothered to give him the courtesy of a reply!

  • ~ That might be because YOU don't know how to respond to something that actually makes some sense, maybe!

  • ~ Who knows if you've ever even read "Dave answers Mike M on being wrongly removed from his list" => (to read click here)

  • ~ or even "Dan answers Mike M on being booted." => (to read click here)

  • ~ Although you were made aware that Dave, Tod, and Dan had each responded to YOU!

  • ~ Currently, on Cobu Stories, YOU and YOUR supporters, seem offended that we are not interested in engaging YOU!

  • ~ Yet YOU had "no problem" ignoring the replies to this letter (that YOU made publicly to us on YOUR xCobu Yahoo site) by these three LW brothers!

  • ~ In our perspective: we're entitled to the same 4 3/4 years,

  • ~ that YOU've acted as though we hadn't even written YOU anything,

  • ~ and acted as though YOU did us no wrong. (Jan 2011 => Sept 2015)

    •
  • ~ So, how does it feel to be ignored, as you ignored us!?

    •
  • ~ Now, once again, you want to engage us!

  • ~ When YOU have no interest in our ministry, except to cut down what the Lord God asked of us!

  • ~ Let us know when YOU've read this page in it's entirety, then maybe we'll talk.

    • The Moderator who asks questions then blocks Members from Re-Entry to his Website


  • ~ You seemed disappointed that you asked twice for Dave to "grant you permission" to "ask him a question."

  • ~ Yet you make many "comments" and have no problem: "canceling memberships" without any conversation, apology or "permission."

  • ~ Don't YOU know that standard protocol on any Website I've ever been a member of,

  • ~ is that "if I no longer WANT to participate" that I can just "Unsubscribe?"

  • ~ Since when does a website moderator question it's visitors and then block them from being able to re-enter to reply?

  • ~ Don't YOU know how discourteous it was of YOU to INQUIRE of us about OUR MINISTRY,

  • ~ and then to block us from Re-entry AFTER we provided YOU with a response to YOUR INQUIRY!?

  • ~ Don't YOU realize how inconsiderate it was of YOU to not even allow us to see if anyone responded to what we had posted,

  • ~ when Dave, Jan and I answered YOUR inquiry with our personal expressions!?

  • ~ Don't YOU know how strange it was for YOU to accuse us of 'not allowing YOU' to question us,

  • ~ when we already posted a complete description of our ministry for YOUR website!?

  • ~ Why did YOU accuse us of anything?

  • ~ Do YOU question every member of YOUR website about their personal prayer meetings?

  • ~ Do YOU always cancel the memberships of those who gave YOU the courtesy of a reply?

  • ~ Doesn't it seem strange to YOU, looking back, that YOU:
  • ~ (1) Asked a question of us,
  • ~ (2) Received a Reply from us,
  • ~ (3) then canceled our membership to YOUR site
  • ~ (4) and couldn't even extend any thanks
  • ~ (5) for the expression that we already supplied to YOU
  • ~ (6) and to those on YOUR site who had "supposed" questions!?
  • ~ (7) Isn't it peculiar to continue to "charge" that Dave isn't willing to answer YOUR questions,
  • ~ (8) when YOU never even posed a direct question to him!?
  • ~ (9) Didn't YOU cancel memberships because YOU couldn't bear to read that some were blessed by our ministry?

    •

    The Moderator extends a "NO LONGER A MEMBER" message, yet wants to question and VET us


  • ~ So Mike, you wrote us this post on your site, then less than 12 hours later, as moderator and owner of your xCobu Yahoo group you gave all of us a:

  • ~ NO LONGER A MEMBER message, we got that.

  • ~ Then three brothers write you back and post it here on our site ~ though you confess to not even bothering to read their responses!

  • ~ Perhaps this lengthy post is also a waste of my time, because you have no intentions of reading it,

  • ~ nor replying to us at all, as you haven't in all of this time!

  • ~ Yet you continue to make demands of us, when you haven't had the courtesy of even reading our replies to the post you made to us:

  • ~ only two days after we gave you a complete outline of what our ministry is all about, in answer to YOUR inquiry!

  • ~ What I don't get about you Mike, is why you think that you have a right to even question us at all?

  • ~ You don't like us, as you've made very clear, and yet you continue to provoke.

    • The Moderator is unable to see the double standards that he projects


  • ~ I will say that I am deeply sorry for you Mike, that you are unable to see the double standards,

  • ~ that YOU and those who hide behind YOU and support YOU project:

    •
  • ~ When YOU go on and on for DAYS with YOUR pontificating and posturing, in the public provoking of my husband on Cobu Stories,

  • ~ though YOU hadn't contacted him privately, yet YOU made many posts, of YOUR opinion that: "he needs to submit to YOUR vetting!"

  • ~ For a position that he never sought from YOU, and one that he's already been granted by God and has been operating in faithfully for 28 years!

    •
  • ~ So, the double standard that YOU and YOUR supporters project is:
  • ~ that it's OK for YOU Mike to make harassing, lengthy, public proclamations,
  • ~ for days at a time,
  • ~ without any private conversation with Dave or Tod or any of us personally,
  • ~ where YOU proclaim to everyone on Cobu Stories for days YOUR OPINION
  • ~ that my husband needs to submit to some "vetting" from YOU,
  • ~ but it's NOT OK for US to publicly grant YOU "a simple link"
  • ~ to CONNECT YOU to a REPLY to A POST THAT YOU MADE PUBLICLY TO US!

    •

    The Moderator is unable to see how his scales are unbalanced


  • ~ Do YOU see how those scales are tipped?

  • ~ You take offense at receiving a link to this page => to my response, to YOUR letter: that YOU made PUBLIC on YOUR xCobu Yahoo site:

  • ~ just before YOU canceled 4 LW memberships!

  • ~ Where were the ones who say "they're for justice," when YOU post numerous negative slights towards my husband Dave,

  • ~ when all he gave YOU was a response to YOUR interest in our ministry, Our Statement of Faith => The Oil Blessing!?

  • ~ Why do YOU take offense that he's not interested in debating with YOU on Cobu Stories?

  • ~ Also, difficult to understand, was how YOU got pegged as "the injured party"

  • ~ when YOU have always been the initial provoker!?

  • ~ Are we the only ones able to see how YOUR words have been most offensive!?

  • ~ How was our post of "Our Statement of Faith => The Oil Blessing" offensive to anyone!? (Click here to read)

  • ~ Except maybe to YOU Mike, as that was all it took for YOU to cast us out of your xCobu Yahoo site!

  • ~ YOU seem to project many abstract displays of unfair expressions towards US:

  • ~ towards my husband Dave, towards my brother Tod, and about our prayer ministry,

  • ~ that I don't believe YOU would ever consider expressing toward anyone else.

  • ~ I'll just say that this is getting rather old.

  • ~ We get it: YOU don't care that YOU canceled 4 LW memberships to your xCobu Yahoo site, when we responded to YOUR:

  • ~ "we have questions about YOUR ministry"

  • ~ that was YOUR right and YOUR privilege and YOU took it,

  • ~ but don't keep pronouncing judgment for something that you have no interest in.

  • ~ What's the point?

    •

    and so far there is no response and because now, since your note, two current or former supporters of your ministry have gained access here,


    The Moderator seems quite Confused


  • ~ Is it just me, or are YOU and YOUR supporters unable to see YOUR blatant contradiction!?

  • ~ Did YOU not just state: "there is no response" AS YOU ALSO STATE "since your note!?"

  • ~ How can YOU state that "we didn't respond to YOU" AS you also acknowledge that "we extended a note!?"

  • ~ How are YOU unable to even notice YOUR own duplicity and contradiction!?

  • ~ Why is it that YOU minimize what we provided to YOU by referring to what we wrote as "just a note!?"

  • ~ And if what we presented to YOU was "just a note" than why did it cause YOU to cancel memberships!?

    •
  • ~ The "note" that YOU referred to here MIKE, was: "Our Statement of Faith => The Oil Blessing"

  • ~ that we extended to YOU at YOUR request! (to read "our note" click here)

  • ~ And as Dan Cooper pointed out: "it was no sticky note" or "little Post-it note."

  • ~ We took the time to carefully provide to YOU and those on YOUR xCobu Yahoo website a clear explanation of OUR prayer ministry.

  • ~ We provided this BECAUSE YOU wrote "that YOU had questions about our ministry!"

  • ~ If you took the time to read it, perhaps you wouldn't have to keep saying: "I have questions!"

    •

    Website Moderator extended Memberships then accused Members of Gaining Access


  • ~ The two current members of our ministry, that you are referring to are: Jan Hilton, who had been a member of your xCobu Yahoo site for some months,

  • ~ and Dan Cooper, who had been a member on your site for just over a week.

  • ~ Your reference to them "gaining access here" makes it seem as though they had "infiltrated your site" or "gotten in through some back door."

  • ~ Although they both entered your site through YOUR own admission!

  • ~ Since when do you allow entry and then question how the person got in?

  • ~ When someone comes to your home and you welcome them in the front door, do you then turn to your guest and ask, "How did you get in here?"

  • ~ Perhaps if someone suffered from Alzheimers or dementia this might happen, are you saying that this is YOUR circumstance?

  • ~ Weren't Jan and Dan also active financial contributors of Cobu for many years?

  • ~ Isn't that who YOUR site is for ~ YOUR xCobu Yahoo site?

    •

    Moderator of xCobu website creates Private Club by kicking out xCobu Members


  • ~ Jan went to Haiti when in Cobu and some of those who read her "Story of Freedom" post on your site, contacted her privately.

  • ~ They told her that her testimony very much blessed them.

  • ~ ( Click here to read Jan's testimony)

  • ~ Isn't that what your site is supposed to be for?

  • ~ For former members of Cobu to share their experiences and reconnect with one another?

  • ~ I'm confused.

  • ~ Jan connects and then YOU disconnected her!

  • ~ Jan's experience blessed someone and then oops:

  • ~ Mike pulls the plug! Wow! Go moderator! He's got "power!" He's in "control!" We've got lift off! Oooooow, wowie!


    •
  • ~ If your site is just a "private club" why not just call it that,

  • ~ instead of presenting the pretense that it's a place for xbooer's to reconnect?


    •

    Moderator badgers, provokes, and accuses xCobu Sister in a Private Email


  • ~ You seemed so irritated by Jan's testimony, that you contacted her privately,

  • ~ where you were badgering her: to reply to your email immediately, and

  • ~ accusing her, "that she wrote her experience at my husbands request,"

  • ~ but he actually had nothing to do with her decision to make her post on your site,

  • ~ nor did he have anything to do with what she decided to write!

  • ~ Your email shocked Jan!

  • ~ She read it to her husband and said you accused her and provoked her!

  • ~ Her husband Steve didn't appreciate what you wrote to her one bit!

  • ~ Her testimony was something she felt moved to share with those on your site,

  • ~ because she thought that YOU were genuine when YOU posted:

  • ~ that YOU and the people on YOUR site "had questions about our ministry!"

  • ~ Jan thought that "her own personal and profound experience" would answer some questions for those on your site!

  • ~ Who YOU wrote: "were interested in our ministry" and possibly her perspective,

  • ~ since Jan has been part of our prayer ministry since 1989!

    •

    xCobu Sister Fully Able to Testify to Her LW Relationship


  • ~ Wouldn't someone who has actually TESTED our ministry for 26 years be able to comment on it!?

  • ~ Wouldn't someone who prays with us regularly be able to answer some of YOUR questions about our ministry?

  • ~ Wouldn't someone who prays with us regularly be able to give some indication whether or not it has helped her?

  • ~ Wouldn't someone who had the faith to seek us out and has tested for herself for over 26 years,

  • ~ what we've been told prophetically: will comfort, bless, and relieve,

  • ~ the many post-Cobu afflictions that many have suffered?

  • ~ Wouldn't Jan's testimony be most helpful in answering questions that YOU and others on YOUR xCobu Yahoo site might have?

    •

    Did the Moderator really have Questions or did he just want to Throw Stones


  • ~ Could it have been Mike that YOU really didn't want to understand more about our ministry?

  • ~ Could it have been Mike that YOU really just wanted to question in the sense of "throwing stones?"

  • ~ Could it have been Mike that YOU didn't expect anyone to "speak up about our ministry" when YOU claimed to have questions?

  • ~ Could it have been Mike that YOU were confounded when YOU read Jan's comprehensive expression,

  • ~ of the positive experience that praying with us has been for her and her family over these many years?

  • ~ Could it have been Mike that YOU weren't interested in hearing any other positive expressions about our ministry?

  • ~ Could it have been Mike that YOU didn't want discussions to go back and forth between those on YOUR site and LW?

  • ~ Could it have been Mike that although YOU "posed an interest" in our LW ministry,

  • ~ and said that YOU and others on YOUR site had questions,

  • ~ that YOU actually regretted even making that claim,

  • ~ because of the responses that began to appear?

  • ~ Could it have been Mike that because Jan, Tod, and Dan were blessed by our ministry,

  • ~ that YOU were actually trying to poke at, cast doubt on and post suspicion about,

  • ~ that it provoked YOU to prevent any further "answering of YOUR questions,"

  • ~ by canceling all of their memberships to YOUR site?

    •

    What can we conclude by the actions of The Moderator


  • ~ Can we conclude that YOUR site really has nothing to do with the honest communication of post-Cobu blessings?

  • ~ Can we conclude that YOUR site really has nothing to do with the free discourse between former members of Cobu?

  • ~ Can we conclude that YOU took great exception to what Dave and I, Tod, and Jan provided to YOU,

  • ~ and Dan Cooper attempted to offer YOU, and others might have also shared with YOU?

    •
  • ~ Like, for example, Dan's sons: Abriel and Tommy, who have also been blessed by our ministry and wanted to write about it!

  • ~ And possibly Dan's wife Grace Cooper, or John Branzell, or Chip and Susan Coyne, or even our own son David, etc, etc

    •
  • ~ Or is it possible that you weren't even interested in a RESPONSE to YOUR claim:

  • ~ that YOU and those in YOUR xCobu Yahoo group have "questions about our ministry!?"

  • ~ Can we conclude Mike that because YOU didn't like the direction that YOUR inquiry about our ministry provoked,

  • ~ that the only possible way to "nip those positive expressions in the bud" was to cancel all of their memberships to YOUR group!?

  • ~ Can we conclude Mike that YOU had no intentions to have any further discussion, even about the "question" YOU have yet to pose?

    •

    Cynthia Simmons and Steve Hilton think The Moderator is Cold and Harsh


  • ~ I took exception, especially to your rejection of Jan. I thought that it was very cold and harsh.

  • ~ Her husband said the same thing!

    •
  • ~ How would YOU feel, if YOUR wife took the time to share something on a website,

  • ~ and then when she returned to see if anyone replied, and tried to log in: and got a

  • ~ "NO LONGER A MEMBER" message ~ as YOU Mike gave to Jan and three brothers!?

  • ~ If that happened to YOUR wife, would YOU think that the moderator of that Web Site acted honorably!?

  • ~ How would she feel if she RESPONDED to an INTEREST shown in something she had experienced,

  • ~ and she was cut off without any reason, other than that she posted her experience,

  • ~ that others wrote that they were interested in and had questions about!?

    •

    Jan Hilton speaks candidly about her post and The xCobu Moderator


  • ~ Jan spoke personally of how she heard about our ministry from her friend.

  • ~ How she, her husband and their family were received by Dave and I and Living Water prayer ministry.

  • ~ How she felt about her experience when she met with us.

  • ~ How much it blessed her and her family to pray with Dave and I many different times over many years.
    •
  • ~ The way that YOU were badgering her in your email and the rejection of Jan's membership to YOUR xCobu site, says more about you!

  • ~ Jan said that the amount of time between: when YOU sent YOUR harassing email and when YOU canceled her membership was within the SAME DAY!!

  • ~ She said that she FOUND OUT that she had been "knocked off" of YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB ~

  • ~ BEFORE she even checked the email that YOU had sent to her!!

  • ~ When she tried to log in to YOUR site to see if anyone responded to the testimony that she wrote!

  • ~ And she, like Dave, Tod, and Dan, was greeted with YOUR lovely: NO LONGER A MEMBER message!

  • ~ Then she found YOUR demanding and provoking email!

  • ~ She said to her husband, "Well, I guess this is one unpleasant task I don't even have deal with, since I can't log onto his site anyway!"

  • ~ She said, "Jeez, what does this guy think, that everyone is sitting at their computers all day long,

  • ~ and operate like our kids do with their "instant messages!?"

  • ~ I'm lucky if I have time to view my emails even once a week!"

  • ~ Jan Hilton is the mother of four and grandmother to nine little ones!

  • ~ She said, "I don't know why he's writing this to me?"

  • ~ "What did I do?"

  • ~ "Didn't he say he had questions about Living Water and wanted us to answer questions for those on his site?"

  • ~ "Why does he come across so suspicious and condemning?"

  • ~ "Doesn't that remind you of the way that it was when we were in COBU?!"

  • ~ "Isn't the way that he comes off so provokingly an obvious sign that he doesn't have the peace of God?"

    •
  • ~ She said that in the email YOU wrote to her: YOU came across angry and accusatory toward her,

  • ~ as though she did something wrong by sharing her testimony on YOUR xCobu Yahoo site.

    •

    John Branzell calls The Moderator a Punk Bully and Womanizer


  • ~ Just hearing about YOUR harassing email to Jan provoked a brother to make a judgmental comment to YOU on Cobu Stories,

  • ~ that he normally would never even think, but like righteous indignation he was pushed to it!

  • ~ This brother, couldn't believe what he heard about YOUR treatment of Jan!

  • ~ He thought that YOU acted as a "punk bully" and "a womanizer" or someone who picks on women!

  • ~ As YOU ACCUSED Jan of wrongdoing! When all she did was comply with YOUR inquiry!

  • ~ As YOU made an erroneous assumption: that she wrote her testimony at my husbands request!

  • ~ As YOU provoked her by INSISTING that she REPLY to YOU IMMEDIATELY! etc etc

  • ~ Then YOU demanded that this brother: "be reprimanded IMMEDIATELY!

  • ~ Quite insistent YOU are Michael, as YOU make demands, when ...Love does not insist on its own way..(1 Co 13:5).

  • ~ Being insistent isn't very loving of YOU at all.

  • ~ Especially when John's observations were quite perceptive, in pegging what YOU extended.

  • ~ He has since sought and received YOUR forgiveness.

  • ~ YET that does not negate the truth of his observation,

  • ~ that YOU did act like a punk bully and YOU did pick on a sister,

  • ~ who only sought TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS, about our ministry,

  • ~ something that she was and is quite qualified to do,

  • ~ since, instead of throwing stones from afar,

  • ~ she actually had the faith, and the nerve, and the interest, to "check it out for herself!"

  • ~ Would that YOU had the faith, and the nerve, and the interest, to do the same!

    • Cynthia Simmons was glad to Read what Jan Hilton expressed about her LW Blessings


  • ~ When I read what Jan wrote, I actually learned some things that I hadn't previously known about her experience:

  • ~ When she and her family received the blessing of the oil and prayer at our home and prayed with us through these many years.

  • ~ Some people receive the blessing of the oil and prayer and don't give us any feed back about their experience at all, and that's okay,

  • ~ but we always love to hear about the effects of God's blessings.

  • ~ I was very thankful that Jan took the time to write out her experience.

  • ~ That she did it after reading YOUR post: to answer the questions of those on YOUR site!

  • ~ She was trying to comply with: "not what my husband asked of her," as YOU accused her in YOUR email,

  • ~ but what she read that YOU and those on YOUR site were INTERESTED IN!

    •
  • ~ Was that a lie!?

  • ~ Did you make that up!?

    •

    Cynthia Simmons is disappointed in The xCobu Moderator


  • ~ Because we offer an email address at our website and very little has come in from xbooers.

  • ~ The way that you rejected Jan from your site, as YOU gave her a NO LONGER A MEMBER message,

  • ~ after she took the time out of her busy life to respond to YOUR interest and YOUR inquiry!

  • ~ I don't even have words to describe the depth of my disappointment,

  • ~ in the way that she specifically, was treated by YOU Michael.

    •
  • ~ It wasn't enough to be rejected in Cobu,

  • ~ but then to also be rejected by YOU, the moderator of a website,

  • ~ "supposedly" created to assist those who were abused in Cobu,

  • ~ and then to get badgered by YOU in a private email,

  • ~ where you accused her of wrongdoing,

  • ~ when all that she did was to share her heart and her story,

  • ~ as she replied to YOUR INTEREST in our ministry is a very low blow!

  • ~ Is this YOUR WITNESS Michael!?

    •
  • ~ This is the witness that we experienced from YOU!

  • ~ YOUR rejection of these 4 xCobu brethren from YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB site was our experience!

    •
  • ~ If LW treated anyone the way that you treated Jan, Dan, Tod and Dave, we would be ashamed.

  • ~ If LW treated anyone the way that you treated us, there'd be a justifiable complaint!

    •
  • ~ I mean, what would YOU think, if you read that someone on a website had questions about one of YOUR interests, like for example: the making of pipes,

  • ~ and YOU made a post of a few of YOUR experiences with regard to YOUR interest, and shared YOUR knowledge of pipe making,

  • ~ and the very next time YOU tried to log into that website YOU were greeted with a: NO LONGER A MEMBER, message ~

  • ~ WHO DOES that!?

  • ~ Yet isn't that exactly what YOU did to these four xCobu brethren!?

    •
  • ~ YOU made an inquiry ~ we posted our response ~ then YOU cut us out!

  • ~ And "the icing on the cake" was YOUR complete lack of any ability to even see that there was anything wrong with what YOU did at all!

  • ~ I mean, really Mike, we read that YOU and those on YOUR site have questions about our ministry, we respond,

  • ~ and POOF ~ we can't even read what anyone thought of what we shared!

  • ~ We complied with what we understood as "YOUR interest"

  • ~ and POOF ~ we're: NO LONGER A MEMBER of YOUR wonderful xCobu Yahoo CLUB site!

  • ~ Absolutely shocking!

  • ~ Unfortunately, you have supporters who have an inability to recognize YOUR wrongdoing towards us then: in YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB,

  • ~ and YOUR continued wrongdoing towards us now: on Cobu Stories!

    • Living Water Prayer Ministry has always been Welcoming Toward Everyone We've Met


  • ~ Didn't you know that MANY xCobu brothers and sisters have crossed our paths in the 27 years of our ministry!?

  • ~ And EVERY SINGLE ONE ~ from those who were the LEAST in COBU ~ to those who WERE the GREATEST in COBU

  • ~ were all welcomed in peace, listened to in peace, and prayed with in peace, by us, by Living Water:

  • ~ by Dave => (Click here for Dave's Welcome) and Cynthia => (Click here for Cynthia's Welcome) ,

  • ~ and by Tod => (Click here for Tod's Welcome), Jan => Click here for Jan's Welcome), Dan => Click here for Dan's Welcome) and others!

  • ~ We've prayed with many of those who are in YOUR CLUB!

  • ~ And if the TRUTH is in THEM ~ they could tell YOU how we've always conducted ourselves!

  • ~ Would that those who've received "The Oil Blessing" and prayed with us had the faith to offer their own testimonies!

  • ~ We would gladly post their testimonies on our site, with or without their names attached!

  • ~ According to their faith, in the sharing of their own blessing!

    •

    Cobu Crushed Many just like The Moderator who Rejected Us


  • ~ Cobu did a great job crushing the faith of ALL of US!

  • ~ So that many don't feel comfortable even posting their own experiences.

    •
  • ~ Especially if anyone gets treated the way that YOU treated Jan, Dan, Tod and Dave!

  • ~ Someone might think to themselves, "Wow, if Mike Montoya canceled memberships for simply posting a testimony of receiving a blessing,

  • ~ "I better keep my blessings to myself, or I could get "the boot" too!"

  • ~ Yet YOU still don't think that there was anything wrong with the way that YOU "posed an interest in our ministry"

  • ~ and then canceled our memberships when we did nothing more than reply to YOUR inquiry!

  • ~ Dan told me that YOU sent him an email to this effect as recently as October 1st, 2014!

  • ~ Still claiming to him that YOU did nothing wrong!

  • ~ Still saying that YOU want to vet our ministry!

  • ~ It's extremely baffling to us, really!

  • ~ YOU still don't see YOUR own duplicity!

  • ~ Maybe someone that YOU trust can help YOU with that!

    • The Moderator is Bent on Vetting LW


  • ~ Is anyone available to give Mike an assist on this one!?

  • ~ YOU still "claim" that YOU desire to "vet us"

  • ~ don't YOU even know what the purpose of vetting someone is?

    •
  • ~ If someone is seeking a position, say at a church, (or even a political office), that person "applies for the position" ~

  • ~ if the church "LIKES" ( => and that's the key word here) the application, they "schedule an interview"

  • ~ to see if that persons views are in line with the views of those in that church,

  • ~ who are looking possibly for: a new pastor, or choir director, or a youth group leader, or a camp counselor, etc.

    •
  • ~ This is why we just don't get YOUR continual insistence on "vetting" us, as YOU've already proven that YOU don't LIKE us:

  • ~ when YOU rejected us from YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB site:

  • ~ NO LONGER A MEMBER ~ means that YOU don't want anything to do with US at all!!

    •
  • ~ So, WHY did YOU email Dan, saying that YOU still want to VET LW?!!!:

  • ~ saying that "YOU did NO wrong" when you canceled memberships without any discussions or warnings,

  • ~ but that YOU still want to VET LW?!!!

    •
  • ~ To "VET" someone has to do with extending an invitation for an interview to take steps to "engage" in a relationship.

  • ~ YOU've proven many, many times: by how YOU've treated us and by the things YOU continue to post and email,

  • ~ that YOU don't want to have a relationship with us at all!

  • ~ YOU come across very confused Mike ~ even in this letter that I'm replying to,

  • ~ in YOUR contradictions and YOUR conflicting pontifications:

  • ~ NO MEMBERSHIP => yet let me prod YOU with my questions, that YOU never seem to be able to express!

    •
  • ~ We're actually very concerned for you and pray for you every day.

  • ~ With regard to "vetting" ~ Dave, Tod, and I have always been quite open about our concerns and interest,

  • ~ that any who suffer Post-Cobu-Stress, that they receive comfort and a blessing.

  • ~ For that matter, everyone in Living Water has always been quite OPEN!

  • ~ Everyone from Living Water responded when YOU posted an interest in our ministry.

  • ~ While YOU Michael, those in YOUR xCobu CLUB and The Survivors have been CLOSED!

  • ~ Which was seen quite clearly by the: NO LONGER A MEMBER, message.

  • ~ That YOU've ALL extended, to we who responded to YOUR own inquiry!

    •

    Living Water is about accepting the Blessings of God


  • ~ Once again, if YOU've read our "Statement of Faith => The Oil Blessing"

  • ~ then YOU'd know that we have a "prayer ministry,"

  • ~ and that we pray with anyone "who would like to pray with us"

  • ~ anyone who feels that they might have a need for a blessing.

  • ~ We have seen the evidence of many blessings extended each and every time we pray!

  • ~ It may have something to do with why Chris and Debbie asked us to come to their home and pray with them for many years, (1988-2006)!

  • ~ The way that Jan and her husband Steve, took a step in faith, and they asked to pray with us, and they did and were thankful afterward!

  • ~ (Click here to read Jan Hilton's profound LW testimony).

  • ~ The way that Tod Burros did, back in 1989, after his big disappointment in Stewart Traill's "Grace Meeting"

  • ~ ya know, where Stewart confessed to: "missing the grace of God" => who is Jesus: full of Grace and truth!

  • ~ Tod continues to meet with us, prays with us, and we've blessed each other, for all of these 26 years!

  • ~ (Click here to read the LW testimony of Tod Burros)


  • ~ The way that Dan & Grace Cooper, and both of their sons: Abriel and Tommy Cooper, have been a part of our lives and our prayer ministry since 1987!!

  • ~ (Click here for to read the LW testimony of Dan Cooper)

  • ~ The way that Chip & Susan Coyne, took a step in faith, and flew all the way from Arizona twice, to receive the blessing of the oil and our prayers,

  • ~ and both times were glad that they did! And continue to pray with us and read the bible with us weekly!

  • ~ ( Click here to read Susan Coyne meets LW)

  • ~ As John Branzell met with us back in 1988 and he received an oil blessing and our prayers and then we didn't hear from him for many years.

  • ~ Then recently, he called and asked if he could pray with us again, and he's been blessed again ~ and so are we, by the growth of his faith!

  • ~ There are many others who've asked to meet with us, sometimes it's a "one time thing" like some we prayed with at a reunion,

  • ~ and we never hear from them again, yet that's their choice!

  • ~ If you've read "Our Statement of Faith = The Oil Blessing" then YOU'd know we pray with those WHO WANT to pray WITH US!!

  • ~ (Click here to read The Oil Blessing)

  • ~ YOU've made it quite clear that YOU don't have a need for us or our ministry, which is fine with us,

  • ~ but YOUR continued provoking is confusing, its why my husband asked you:

  • ~ Why all the pageantry Mike?

  • ~ Why does the concept of having a prayer ministry seem so very difficult for YOU to get?

    •

    How Living Water came to Be


  • ~ Dave and I prayed that God would show us a way that we could be a blessing to any who needed one.

  • ~ God comforted us, that we didn't need to pursue anyone, but that if someone sought us out, to offer a healing prayer with oil.

  • ~ Some came to meet with us and prayed with us, but didn't want to receive an oil blessing.

  • ~ Some came because they wanted to talk about their Cobu experience and just wanted to be "heard" but didn't want to receive the oil blessing or pray.

  • ~ Some sent us an email and asked to talk on the phone, so we set up a time for them to call us.

  • ~ Some met with us many times over many years and then no longer wanted to meet with us any more.

    • The Moderator is all about UnAsked Questions, making FALSE assumptions, and being a Disappointment


  • ~ All YOU seem to do Mike, is to "say that YOU have questions" but then YOU don't extend any!

  • ~ YOU canceled Jan's membership to your site, just because YOU made a FALSE assumption,

  • ~ about: HER MOTIVE in posting her experience with Living Water, on your site!

  • ~ YOU canceled Jan's membership to YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB for simply responding to YOUR request, that YOU were interested in OUR ministry!

    •
  • ~ YOU ARE THE ACCUSER OF MY SISTER ~ WE KNOW ALL ABOUT THE ACCUSER OF THE BRETHREN!!!! THIS IS WHY YOU DISAPPOINT ME!!!!


    • Rev 12:10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.


  • ~ Who do YOU think you are!?

  • ~ Accusing a gentle sister for doing nothing more than offering her precious pearls before one like YOU! (Mt 7:6)

  • ~ One who KICKED her to the curb, just because she prayed with US!

  • ~ Just because she offered her testimony, of how praying with us blessed her,

  • ~ when she read that YOU Mike and those in YOUR club were interested in OUR MINISTRY!

  • ~ And THEY with YOU ~ rejected HER!

  • ~ WHY???

  • ~ That's MY QUESTION MICHAEL!

  • ~ Maybe because her faith is more genuine than yours!

    •

    An xCobu Sister shares her experiences only to be Rejected by The Moderator


  • ~ Jan's precious testimony, of her actual experience of being comforted and blessed by The Lord God Almighty,

  • ~ who took out of her heart and mind the condemning VOICES of Stewart Tanner Traill ~

  • ~ the son of disobedience, who WE all once called "teacher!"

  • ~ And what did Jan receive but YOUR: NO LONGER A MEMBER, message, when she tried to log into YOUR site, to see if anyone posted a response!

  • ~ If you are interested in reading the testimony of Jan Hilton => (just click here)

    • 70 xCobu brothers and Sisters received an Oil Blessing Yet only a handful have Testified to their Experience


  • ~ And if anyone reading this prayed with us and received an oil blessing, if you would like to add your personal testimony of how you were received by us and whether or not it blessed you to receive this Oil Blessing ~ please send us your testimony ~ and we will Post it here on our website.

  • ~ If you don't want to include your name, let us know and we'll leave it out, but if you prayed with us and you would like to share your testimony, it would be gladly received and posted.

  • ~ Please send whatever you would like to share or if you have questions to: info@freefromthegrip.com

    •

    The Moderator said "NO to Dan Cooper" who was inspired to share his Oil Blessing Testimony


  • ~ Dan was very encouraged by Jan's candid testimony,

  • ~ and it inspired him to also bear witness to the blessing of the oil,

  • ~ that he also received and wanted to share, yet YOU Michael would have none of it!

    • Jn 3:11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen; but you do not receive our testimony.

  • ~ He didn't try to "break in" "through some back door" as YOU insinuated,

  • ~ but HE asked YOU directly, if he could post HIS testimony on YOUR site!

  • ~ After he read that YOU Michael and those in YOUR club had an interest in our ministry.

  • ~ A testimony that he hadn't even put to paper at that point!

  • ~ Didn't YOU say that one of the purposes of your website was to help xCobu brethren heal from their experience?

  • ~ Sorry, my mistake, that's just the pretense that YOU present to the unsuspecting!

  • ~ Yet, if it's not a pretense, as I believe it to be, if you actually care that some could find a way to heal,

  • ~ why would YOU prevent the posting of an experience that did that very thing!?

  • ~ Do you see the deception, or double standard that YOU and YOUR site conveys!?

  • ~ Answer that question, if you will!

    •

    The Moderator who questions and rejected those with testimonies: is "bothered"


  • ~ Then, I heard that you also wrote: "that it wasn't the testimonies that bothered you."

  • ~ If that were true: than why did YOU accuse Jan in an email of "writing her testimony at Dave's request?"

  • ~ When you make an accusation, than you're bothered, right or wrong!?

  • ~ Then you also wrote in another post: "that it was the way you guys went about it" that bothered YOU Mike!

    •
  • ~ The "way they went about it" once again, was that YOU POSTed:

  • ~ that YOU and those on YOUR website had questions about OUR ministry,

  • ~ so IN RESPONSE to what YOU wrote INTERESTED YOU and those on YOUR website:

  • ~ Dave and I wrote a brief post titled: The Oil Blessing, explaining our ministry.

  • ~ Jan wrote her "Story of Freedom" experience, also: IN RESPONSE TO YOUR POST: "we have questions!"

  • ~ and Dan ASKED YOU DIRECTLY: if he could also post a description of his own experience,

  • ~ with a "post-Cobu healing through receiving the blessing of oil and prayer,"

  • ~ and Tod Burros, who maintained a steady relationship with YOU and those on YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB site,

  • ~ patiently fielded any questions that any had the faith to post for two entire weeks,

  • ~ and YOU say that THEY went about SOMETHING WRONG!!!

    •
  • ~ What did YOU find wrong about us responding to YOUR interest Mike?

  • ~ What about what you've done wrong Mike!!

  • ~ ASKING questions of us, THEN accusing us of "using your site to promote our ministry"

  • ~ when all we did was make two small posts to try to answer YOUR inquiry about our own ministry that YOU asked about!!

  • ~ Then Dan asked YOU: Why?

  • ~ Why you didn't want him to post his experience on YOUR CLUB SITE, and YOU said to him, "

  • ~ YOU KNOW WHY!"

  • ~ This was the same type of suspicious innuendo that we learned at the feet of the conman: Stewart Traill!

  • ~ Yes, YOU actually still use the language of the accuser, that we learned and spoke in Cobu!

  • ~ Interesting that YOU accuse Dave of NOT answering questions, that YOU've never even addressed to him!

  • ~ Yet we supplied answers to YOUR: "we have questions," in Dave and my account: "The Oil Blessing" and Jan's personal testimony,

  • ~ that they POSTED at YOUR CLUB SITE

  • ~ but YOU DIDN'T LIKE their POSTS

  • ~ so YOU KICKED THEM TO THE CURB!

    •

    The Moderator refused to answer Dan's direct Question


  • ~ While it was actually YOU who avoided answering Dan's direct question posed to you!

    •
  • ~ So Mike, WE WANT TO KNOW: WHY?

  • ~ and don't give us your Cobu-speak: "You know why!" as you pulled on Dan ~ because we really don't know why, that's why we ASK!

    •
  • ~ WHY did YOU Mike, refuse to allow Dan Cooper to share his experience of receiving "The Oil Blessing" with our LW ministry,

  • ~ AFTER YOU posted on YOUR xCobu Yahoo Club site: that YOU have questions about our ministry!?

  • ~ Why did YOU Mike, prevent any further conversations between those who received a post-Cobu blessing, with us, with Living Water,

  • ~ and those on YOUR site who might be in need of a post-Cobu blessing?

  • ~ Why did YOU Mike, post an interest in our ministry,

  • ~ and then kick those who responded to YOUR interest out of YOUR site?

  • ~ Why did YOU give we who answered YOUR inquiry a: NO LONGER A MEMBER, message!?

  • ~ Why would YOU, who claim to have a website for xCobu brethren,

  • ~ refuse to allow other xCobu brethren,

  • ~ to post what helped them to get rid of their post-Cobu "aftershocks"

  • ~ or "the residual negative affects" of having been in the controlling cult of Cobu?

  • ~ What were and are YOU afraid of?

  • ~ Don't YOU have any faith that those on YOUR site could discern for themselves what we might present?

  • ~ Don't YOU have any faith that truthful conversations might lead to helpful outcomes?

  • ~ WHY do YOU Mike, say that YOU and those on YOUR CLUB SITE have: QUESTIONS about our ministry,

  • ~ and then CANCEL the MEMBERSHIPs of those who wanted to answer YOU?

    •  Ya know, that's really twisted!

  • ~ If anyone reading this would like to read Dan Cooper's testimony => ( click here)

    • I am now compelled to act. I will first state my positions and then offer a last chance to you Dave, to make clear, right here, in the open, your ministry by answering questions I have as well as questions others have.

    The Moderator continues to Make Demands


  • As I wrote above Michael, YOU really didn't have any interest in our ministry.
  • ~ YOU really didn't have any interest in getting our answers to YOUR questions.
  • ~ YOU really didn't want us to make anything "CLEAR" for YOU or those on YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB site.
  • ~ YOU really didn't want us to share openly our LW testimonies and experiences.
  • ~ YOU told Dan Cooper that he couldn't share his testimony in YOUR xCobu CLUB.
  • ~ We gave YOU our "Statement of Faith => The Oil Blessing"
  • ~ which spelled out what our prayer ministry is about quite CLEARLY,
  • ~ Yet that wasn't ENOUGH for YOU!
  • ~ Jan Hilton shared her 26 years of experience with our prayer ministry,
  • ~ And instead of thanking her for her contribution in answer to YOUR question,
  • ~ YOU made negative assumptions about her motive and attacked her in an email.
  • ~ Tod Burros shared his insights on YOUR xCobu website for 7 years!
  • ~ He also answered anyone's questions for two whole weeks!
  • ~ All of these contributions were extended to YOU before YOU even wrote this letter!
  • ~ YOUR only "ACT" was giving 4 LW brethren a: NO LONGER A MEMBER, message!
  • ~ Without "ANY CHANCES" first, last, or otherwise!
  • ~ Without any discussion!
  • ~ Without even asking a question at all!
    •

    What right does The Moderator have in Questioning an xCobu Prayer Ministry


  • I have no idea why YOUR position as a website moderator would have any bearing:
  • ~ on publicly questioning our ministry,
  • ~ or questioning those in our ministry,
  • ~ or questioning the faith of others,
  • ~ or questioning the belief of others,
  • ~ or questioning the worship of anyone,
  • ~ just because they are members of YOUR website and used to be in Cobu.

    •
  • ~ Dave and I, Tod Burros, and Jan Hilton had already spoken openly about our faith,

  • ~ and Dan Cooper offered to speak openly about his experience,

  • ~ and YOUR response was to cancel the membership to YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB,

  • ~ that none of YOU were really interested in anyway.

  • ~ To this day no one from YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB has sent any questions to our info@freefromthegrip.com email address.

    •
  • ~ What do YOU call someone who SAYs: they're interested in something and have questions about something,

  • ~ when they and those in their group really have no interest in it at all?

    •

    I want to state as clearly as I can my impressions of LW thus far ...

    The Moderator has no ability to speak on what he does not know


  • ~ I just want to point out Mike, that YOU never "clearly" gave any of YOUR "impressions of LW" anywhere in this letter.
  • ~ Furthermore, I'd like to point out that there is no way that YOU could express an "impression of LW"
  • ~ as YOU've never had anything to do with our ministry,
  • ~ although I do recall YOU saying that YOU had an interest in "partnering" with us,
  • ~ after a brief conversation with Tod and Dave,
  • ~ when YOU claimed that "YOU were flying high"
  • ~ when YOU seemed pleasantly surprised,
  • ~ YOU had a good experience, oh my mistake, that was years after this letter.
  • ~ Yet, I will restate: that by cutting off the memberships to YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB site of everyone from LW,
  • ~ who rose up and were quite willing and able to give their "clear" and "actual impressions" of our ministry,
  • ~ you, couldn't have been too interested in having these impressions on YOUR website,
  • ~ or YOU wouldn't have kicked us out of it!

    •

    and also restate my role here as moderator for those who may be wondering why I am willing and able to take any action here.

    The Moderator has Delusions of Grandeur


  • ~ Why exactly does "your role here as moderator" allow YOU to question the faith of those on YOUR site?
  • ~ Why exactly does "your role here as moderator" allow YOU to question those who received a post-Cobu blessing?
  • ~ Why exactly does "your role here as moderator" allow YOU to question those who left Cobu and decided to seek God together?
  • ~ Why exactly does "your role here as moderator" allow YOU to question our ministry and then kick us to the curb when we answered YOU?

    •

    ~ My name is Michael James Montoya. I was born of the Spirit, June 30th 1975.

    A glimpse into my Christian Childhood


  • ~ My name is Cynthia Simmons, when I was in Cobu I was known as: Cindy Beckmann.
  • ~ My mother got saved, saying the sinners prayer, when I was only two years old in 1960.
  • ~ We were part of small, evangelical, fundamentalist Christian church.
  • ~ I gave my life to Jesus as a child, I think I was 6 years old, and received a new Bible.
  • ~ One of the greatest things I remembered in this church, was when our pastor read the address of a Bible verse, any child who could read,
  • ~ jumped up and would try to find the verse as quickly as possible,
  • ~ and whoever found the verse and raised their hand first, our pastor congratulated us by name,
  • ~ and we were given the privilege to stand and read the verse aloud and select a hymn of our choice.
  • ~ I loved when I was the first one to find the verse, and quickly learned where all the books of the Bible were.
  • ~ I usually chose the hymn: "Count Your Blessings" something I always try to do!
  • ~ Every week we memorized a Bible verse to recite the following week in Sunday school.

    •
  • ~ I learned at a very young age to be proud of Jesus, to be proud of being a Christian, and to have a love for my Bible.

  • ~ My mom would find me with my flashlight and my Bible, many times when she'd check on us after we went to bed at night.
  • ~ My mom also read the Bible to my siblings and I every night.
  • ~ She told me many years later that in her thankfulness for the peace that her salvation gave her,
  • ~ that she offered God to take one of her children to be in his service.
  • ~ Our church gave "perfect attendance" pins, and everyone in our family wore one,
  • ~ until I entered Cobu, giving my life to Jesus at age 17 3/4, on December 4, 1975.


    •

    My family and I were led to Jesus by members of the Forever Family. I moved into cobu in 1980 and moved out in 1984.

    Cindy Beckmann's Early Day's in Cobu


  • ~ I wore my "Get Smart Get Saved" button on my High School graduation gown, keeping my commitment to my mom to graduate,
  • ~ I moved into the fellowship that day in June 1976, after just turning 18, April 10th of that year.
  • ~ My mom would sometimes bring a pot of pasta to our fellowship house, to feed all the brothers and sisters who lived there.
  • ~ Dave & Joann R, Vinny D, Carole T, Tom S and several others prayed with me when I got saved with Cobu!
  • ~ After the prayer I said that, "I felt like I threw a brick off of my heart."
  • ~ I smoked my last cigarette just before getting saved, I think they were 50 cents a pack back in 1975.
  • ~ I held a whole pack of cigarette's in my coat pocket and didn't remove the cellophane for an entire month.
  • ~ One of the "Salvation Verses" helped me to trust that I didn't need to smoke anymore:

    • Jn 1:12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God;

  • ~ I never smoked another cigarette in my life, since that one the day I got saved Dec 4, 1975.

  • ~ One of the girls in my gym class asked me, "Do you have a new boyfriend or something?" I said, "No, why?"
  • ~ She said, "Because you're absolutely glowing!" I said, "Oh, that's because I gave my heart to Jesus!"
  • ~ My salvation and the joy of my countenance was apparent to many who knew me.

  • ~ I took the "number attended" at every weekly meeting Dave R a/k/a Dave on Fire led from the time I got saved in his center,
  • ~ I was the guardian of many who got saved and read the Bible and prayed with them on the phone.
  • ~ There weren't any cell phones in 1976, but a local call from a pay phone was only a dime.
  • ~ I'd take a roll of dimes to a phone booth and call as many as I could all the time, especially before Big Meetings, to see if any could come.
  • ~ I was the one who designed and made the over-sized "blue & white number board" used at all the big meetings to show how many had come.
  • ~ I made the yellow "Metuchen Welcomes You to the Big Meeting" sign, and think I met you Mike, at that Big Meeting.
  • ~ I sat in the grass to give my lambs a bible study and over 50 kids ended up joining in, sharing their references!
  • ~ I was so eager for Bible studies that my fellowship leader Tom S gave me all of his poorly written file card notes,
  • ~ to "re-write" neatly and I made copies for both of us, it was a "self-feeding" Bible study program!

    •
  • Mt 5:6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
  • Jn 6:35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.

  • ~ I loved going witnessing! I highlighted my baby Zondervan Bible and shared it with many!
  • ~ In a dentist office waiting room, there was an elderly gentleman, who looked kind of miserable and very grumpy.
  • ~ I began to read aloud the verses I had highlighted,
  • ~ and when it was my turn to be treated, the man took my hand and thanked me for what I read to him.
  • ~ Almost everyday I shared my bible: at the NJ Malls, at Rutgers University, even the dorms, kids at my school, my family:
  • ~ 3 of my younger sisters got saved and went to the fellowship, often on their own!

  • ~ Dave R was the one who arranged for me to go from NJ to The York PA fellowship.
  • ~ One day when I was homesick for New Jersey, I prayed about missing the NY center.
  • ~ Dave and Joann were in PA and ran into a brother wearing a button from our fellowship and they stopped by.
  • ~ I told them it was an answer to my prayer that very morning!

  • ~ Elva H went back with Stewart & Gayle from the Boston mansion at Jamaica Plain in the height of the business,
  • ~ and they left me there as "The Oldest Sister" in charge, I was only 20 and 14 others lived in that house!
  • ~ When Stewart Traill met with a few older brothers and sisters at a "core" meeting @ 607 W 51st St loft, I attended.

  • ~ When the carpet cleaning business first started, I was one of the sisters to accompany the squad leaders on estimates.
  • ~ I was instrumental in closing many jobs for the business in the earliest days.
  • ~ I was one of only a few who handled the customer service complaint calls.
  • ~ I also trained many sisters in how to solicit estimates in the room full of phones, where sisters called people from the phone book.
  • ~ I was one of the first sisters who was active as a team leader in our "maid service" and trained many in the cleaning of "high end" NY City apartments.
  • ~ I was given the sole responsibility of taking care of a room full of infants, so the older sisters could work in the business.
  • ~ Some of these little ones had special diets, or were on medications,
  • ~ it wasn't easy to care for a room full of little babies, all in diapers, all by myself, but I was trusted and responsible,
  • ~ and I prayed often inwardly that they'd be calm until their mom's picked them up.
  • ~ I drove a van full of brothers and sisters up to Detroit several times where we bought used vehicles.
  • ~ The brothers would hook two vehicles together and we'd drive caravans to Queens NY to sell them in our business.
  • ~ Several times I drove two big step van's hooked together on these trips, just like the "U.P.S. delivery trucks" by myself,
  • ~ using a radio hookup to keep in touch with the other drivers about exits and directions.

    •

    Dating in Cobu and Working in the Situation Office


  • ~ On July 12, 1981 Dave and I began dating in Cobu, when the only other non-married couples in the fellowship were: Tom & Jane and Steve & Fortune.
  • ~ The very first day of our relationship I let the sisters in my apartment know.
  • ~ Dave said that he'd hoped that I'd at least wait a couple of weeks so we wouldn't have to get "picked on" right away.
  • ~ I told him that I wanted to be "out in the open" about it right away, but it didn't matter,
  • ~ We were still accused of being "in the dark" about our relationship! Unbelievable!

  • ~ Stewart Traill sent: Dave & Joann R, Nancy & Charles R, Pat W, Joann F, & Chuck M to "break us up"
  • ~ telling Dave that "I wasn't devoted enough!" and that "he should pick a more devoted sister"
  • ~ they acted as though they were doing us a favor, that we should thank them!
  • ~ When Stewart sent the seven older brothers and sisters to break Dave and I up, I had been working in the office at the time,
  • ~ answering Stewart Traill's phone and taking stats from all the fellowships. Yet they counted me "undevoted!" Unbelievable!

  • ~ Thank you Cobu for all your "love and support!" Not!

  • ~ It was more like I was "too devoted" and they didn't want me to "be distracted" from Stewart Traill's agendas!
  • ~ There weren't too many who were "willing to" answer Traill's red direct phone line!
  • ~ Kay didn't even get up each day until 2 or 3 pm!
  • ~ I was in the Cobu office often from as early as 6 am until the wee hours of the morning!
  • ~ Many days Stewart would call with a question "only Kay could answer" from the night before, and I'd climb to the 5th floor to find out for him!

  • ~ I witnessed Stewart Traill feeling all over Gayle, French kissing her seductively,
  • ~ while she wore high heeled shoes and a high end dress with a slit up to her pantie line,
  • ~ right in front of Harry, while he sat at his desk, and I sat at the other one, in the tiny office, working Harry over, who turned red!

    •
  • ~ I lost respect for Stewart Traill, to me he seemed more like someone who was into manipulating others, I don't think I was wrong.

    •
  • ~ A couple of times, when he was cutting on the phone, I hung up on him ~ he called back and I hung up again, then I just took a break.
  • ~ I found that "going out witnessing" and finding young people to give bible studies to on the phone,
  • ~ was much more rewarding than answering the phone for Traill and having to tolerate being treated coldly, especially,
  • ~ when I was the one who found 90% of the things "he needed," spending the money all the brethren were earning every day!

  • ~ When the 7 older ones came to break Dave and I up, Dave R asked me, "Are you leading him on?"
  • ~ I answered him strongly, "That's not true!" and he didn't say anything else after that!
  • ~ Yet they succeeded in carrying out Stewart's agenda.
  • ~ Dave was 25 and I was 23 at the time! Unbelievable!
  • ~ We were older than the young girls that Stewart Traill (age 78) pals around with, frolicking at the beach! This is strange!

  • ~ What's the "big attraction" there?

  • ~ Would anyone treat their own sons or daughters as we had been treated?

  • ~ If your 23 or 25 year old son or daughter, found someone they liked, would you send 7 married people to break them up!?

  • ~ It was just strange and unnatural the way that we were treated in Cobu!

  • ~ None of them ever apologized either.

  • ~ Just because we wanted to be a couple! That was COBU, obeying orders from the big guy.
  • ~ Dave & I did break up for five days, after that overkill tactic that we called "the posse."
  • ~ That was the toughest week of my life in Cobu, when Dave "took a time out" because "that's what the group expected."
  • ~ That "the older married brothers and sisters" in all THEIR wisdom deemed "was best for us" and "pressured us into accepting!"

  • ~ Who did they think they were!?

  • ~ It was the only time: while we dated in Cobu, that I seemed "to be accepted" by the fellowship.
  • ~ It's pretty sad that the only time there was "acceptance" was when we were "strong armed"
  • ~ to comply with what "the group deemed acceptable!"

  • ~ What a stifled society we submitted to!

  • ~ Rejection of each other was our daily bread, in the cult of our youth!

  • ~ We got a short reprieve in "the shunning" we had to tolerate every single day of our 2 1/2 year relationship,

  • ~ while IN Cobu from July 12 1981 - Feb 1, 1984 => when I moved to NJ by myself, out of the fellowship.

  • ~ They even tried to ship me off to Haiti, another "wonderful use of this impoverished country!"

  • ~ Yet, on the fourth day of our "break up" ~ Dave came to pick me up at my job in NY City, and he apologized to me,
  • ~ for letting the older brothers and sisters convince him to quit his commitment to me and to our relationship.

  • ~ When Joann F saw that we were back together, she said to us: "I thought that we agreed that you should separate!" How audacious!

  • ~ Dave replied, "I never made any such agreement. I considered what you said and I've declined YOUR COUNSEL!" Go Dave!!

  • ~ If anyone would like to read more about our relationship while "in Cobu" (just click here).


    • [def. audacious - showing an impudent lack of respect. "an audacious remark" "It was quite audacious of Joann F to impose her restrictions on a couple of adults, who were quite capable of making their own judgments in regard to who they wanted to have a relationship with!" synonyms: impudent, impertinent, insolent, presumptuous, cheeky, irreverent, discourteous, disrespectful, insubordinate, ill-mannered, unmannerly, rude, brazen, shameless, pert, defiant, cocky, bold (as brass); informal: fresh, lippy, mouthy, saucy, sassy, nervy, ballsy; "Sounds just like the Joann F I remember."]


    Just a little "Testing of our Faith" in Cobu


  • ~ Looking back I was very thankful that God led me to move out before the 515 W 48th St building was sold out from under everyone who lived there.

  • ~ That was a stressful situation for those who Stewart Traill didn't have any concern for.

  • ~ Although, once when I lived in one of the nicer apartments on 46th Street NYC,

  • ~ I came home from work to find all of my belongings out in the hallway!

  • ~ This wasn't a "church owned" building, and any of the other tenants could have taken my things!

  • ~ The brothers told me that they'd put my things at our 51st Street loft,

  • ~ where anyone from the fellowship could also root through my stuff,

  • ~ but there was nothing that I could do about it,

  • ~ and I was told that I should find someone in the fellowship to live with, that night after 6 pm!

  • ~ The other sisters I lived with and I were suddenly cast out of our apartment and told to fend for ourselves!

  • ~ Thankfully one of the single-parent sisters offered me a bit of her floor!

  • ~ I ended up sleeping in a sleeping bag, on the floor between two twin beds,

  • ~ in one of the narrow "railroad" apartments on 48th St New York City!

  • ~ Looking back, it might have been wise to leave NY and go back to my parents house!

  • ~ But I didn't even have bus fare, and I just accepted it as a "test" that Jesus would help me walk through.

  • ~ Cobu was great at providing us with these "tests of our faith"

  • ~ but I don't think God had anything to do with the way we were "dealt" with.

  • ~ In the business days, one of the many "untrustworthy" vehicles we owned, but drove anyway,

  • ~ broke down on one of the Exit Ramps off the NJ Turnpike!

  • ~ The brother I was with and I spent the entire night trying to get someone to come and get us!

  • ~ Our vehicle had been towed away and we were finally picked up as the sun came up the next morning.

  • ~ We were only to be further stressed by the "team leader" of "our squad" telling us that he expected us to work that day!

  • ~ They really expected we who had been up all night and were exhausted to "shake it off" and keep on working!

  • ~ Cobu, such a lovely Christian community, that professed to "knowing Jesus!"

  • ~ Ya know, the Jesus who said "that his yoke was easy and his burden was light!"

  • ~ I don't think anyone at Cobu even knew that Jesus!

  • ~ I told the brother that I was on my monthly and if I didn't get some rest I might "make a blunder."

  • ~ Oh, the blessings of womanhood! I thanked God for that quick bit of wisdom!

  • ~ I felt sorry for the brother though, he couldn't come up with a reason,

  • ~ not to "keep on striving and working in Stewart's maniacal sweat-shop!"

  • ~ I later heard some of the brothers seemed to succumb to drinking,

  • ~ to help them get through their stressful life in Cobu, and although sad, I wasn't surprised.

  • ~ These were some of my Cobu days, with regard to "my character" and the commitment that I had to "the group"

  • ~ because I was under the impression that Cobu was "a house of God!"

  • ~ I was always an active member from the day I got saved, Dec 1975,

  • ~ and was committed everyday, even before I moved in, the day I graduated H.S. June 1976.

  • ~ Eight years and two months of my youth: from the age of 17 until I was 25, (two months before I turned 26)!

  • ~ I gave the best years of my life to Cobu and the endeavors of Stewart Traill.

  • ~ I moved out of Cobu Feb 1, 1984.

  • ~ Thankfully I learned shortly thereafter that Cobu's lifestyle:
  • ~ had nothing to do with godliness,
  • ~ had nothing to do with truth,
  • ~ had nothing to do with the Holy Spirit of God,
  • ~ had nothing to do with the joy of the Lord,
  • ~ had nothing to do with the love of God,
  • ~ had nothing to do with the peace of God,
  • ~ had nothing to do with the gentleness of God,
  • ~ had nothing to do with the redemption of Jesus Christ,
  • ~ and had everything to do with slavery, taking care of "Daddy Stewart" and all of his lustful cravings.

    •

    Finding a Way of Escape


  • ~ It was almost impossible for most brothers and sisters to save any money because most turned everything in.
  • ~ I worked part-time "in the church office" and had a job 3 days a week and turned that money in.
  • ~ I quit working "in the church office" and got a second part-time job, to save money to leave.
  • ~ Earning $11 an hour, which in 1981 was excellent, doing legal billing for a law firm,
  • ~ that didn't care if I worked in their office or at home.
  • ~ I was even able to buy two 12 speed bikes that Dave and I enjoyed riding to Central Park.
  • ~ While the sisters were busy taking weekend trips to Princeton, to sit around all day in front of Stewart, being belittled by him.
  • ~ One day, as the sisters were loading up in vehicles, Jim G questioned if I was going to the meeting.
  • ~ I said, "Not today, I have other plans." And he replied, "Well, it's voluntary."

  • ~ I realized my entire stint in Cobu was voluntary!
  • ~ It was time to exit, because it was downright depressing at the workhouse.

  • ~ I saved enough money to obtain an apartment outside of Cobu, across the Hudson River in Union City,
  • ~ where a bunch of sisters used to take trips to do laundry in NJ, where it was cheaper and had more machines than in NY.

    •

    You can't receive a blessing if you're still listening to the Voice's of Fear


  • ~ Just a note on how Cobu held so much sway over our own convictions, that we felt so compelled to submit to anything,

  • ~ that "the older brothers and sisters" deemed more worthy than our own heart felt convictions.

  • ~ It seemed as though we would "bow down to anything" that was presented to us, by those who we "subjected ourselves beneath" at the time.

  • ~ Yet some current xCobu brothers and sisters, continue in this "obligatory" behavior.

  • ~ I recall going to a reunion and a brother who had received the blessing of the oil, when the Lord first counseled us to offer it in 1988.
  • ~ He spoke to us and shared that his wife would also like to receive this blessing. We said, that would be great!
  • ~ Whenever they'd like to pray with us, to just let us know, if they wanted to now or later.
  • ~ Yet, the very next day, when we saw him, he said, "Well, I talked to the brothers and decided not to do it."

  • ~ We said, "That's okay, just let us know if you change your mind."
  • ~ If they would like to pray with us, at any time would be great, no problem.

  • ~ My reason for bringing up this experience is to show how:
  • ~ initially the brother was interested in his wife receiving a blessing,
  • ~ as he had years before,
  • ~ and she was also interested in having an oil blessing from God.
  • ~ Yet, after "a conference with the brothers" he opted out of something that may have brought a blessing to his own wife!

  • ~ The "submission" to someone else's convictions were exchanged for what he and his own wife had been considering.

  • ~ And other things to consider in regard to what happened there:

    •
  • ~ Where is "faith in God" when brethren can't even pray with other believers!?

  • ~ Where is "faith in God" when brethren are discouraged from praying!?

  • ~ Where is "faith in God" when brethren are expected to turn away from the interest of their own hearts?

  • ~ Where is "faith in God" when brethren are discouraged from seeking a blessing from God?

  • ~ Where is "faith in God" when brethren allow others to turn them away from something that God extends?

    •
  • ~ This seems to be "fear-based" and not "faith-based" at all!

  • ~ Just a note: of how the behaviors of the past, still influence the behaviors of the present ~ in many of our lives.

  • ~ This is one of "the grips" that are necessary "to be free of" in order to truly walk by faith in God.

  • ~ Submitting to "the counsel of the brothers opinions" ~ may not necessarily benefit YOUR own walk with God.

  • ~ You also may be cutting yourself short of a blessing, that could bring you something that you need.

  • ~ Or even release you from something that is hurting your current life experience.

  • ~ Cobu, I learned, while there, and in this example (which we've seen many times) was not a place that encouraged "walking by faith."

    • You can't take one step in Faith, if you're committed to walking with the Crowd


  • ~ For where is the faith if everyone is: "following the same convictions" "following the course laid down by someone else"

  • ~ "rejecting ones own inclinations" "not having the freedom to make your own steps in faith" to try something different?

  • ~ How many times in your own life have you turned aside from the leading of the Holy Spirit in your own experience,

  • ~ to do something that was "considered acceptable" by someone "you deemed more worthy" than yourself?

  • ~ How many times have you "leaned upon" the views of others,

  • ~ instead of "lifting up" your own questions, fears, or a need for insight in a matter that was beyond you,

  • ~ to see if the Lord God himself might have an answer that you hadn't considered

  • ~ and that the "person you usually seek out" might not be aware of either?

    • Jas 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him.

  • ~ Notice that it doesn't say: If any of you lacks wisdom, "let him ask the brothers" but to ask God!

    • 1Ch 16:11 Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his presence continually!


  • ~ Notice that it doesn't say: "Seek the brothers counsel"
  • ~ Notice that it doesn't say: "Seek the strength of the brothers counsel!"
  • ~ Nor does it say: "Seek the presence of the brothers continually!"
  • ~ NO MIKE! The scripture counsels all of us to SEEK the LORD!
  • ~ Yet contrary to the counsel of the scripture that directs us to seek God,
  • ~ while the brothers counsel and YOUR counsel Mike says:
  • ~ "Don't pray... "Don't receive a blessing... "Just continue as you've been doing...
  • ~ and especially stay away from those LW people!
  • ~ Even though many have said they've received blessings directly from God, when they've prayed with us!

  • ~ Blessings that we weren't even aware of!
  • ~ Blessings that were extended to individuals for their own benefits!
  • ~ Blessings that unless we were told of them, we wouldn't have even known about!

    • 1Ch 28:9 "And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you;

  • ~ Notice that the scripture counsels that "if you seek him, he will be found by you!"
  • ~ This is the counsel of the Word of God ~ to Seek God!

  • ~ A brother, who had received an oil blessing when he prayed with us in the past,
  • ~ wants a blessing for his own wife, and his wife also wants to receive a blessing too,
  • ~ yet "he let the brothers" talk him out of seeking God in prayer with us!

    • Ps 14:2 The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any that act wisely, that seek after God.
    Ps 105:4 Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his presence continually!

  • ~ Notice that the scripture counsels that "it's wise to seek after God!"
  • ~ Notice that the scripture counsels "to seek the Lord and his strength!"
  • ~ Notice that it doesn't say "to let the brothers counsel you not to seek God" in prayer!
  • ~ Notice that it doesn't say "to let the brothers fellowship keep you in the darkness!"
  • ~ Notice that it doesn't say "to let the brothers fellowship prevent you from taking any steps in faith!"
  • ~ Notice that it doesn't say "to let the brothers counsel you not to trust anyone but only them!"
  • ~ Notice that: "the brothers counseled a grown man and his grown wife NOT to SEEK God in prayer!"
  • ~ And the thing that was the most sad, was that the brother and his wife had no strength, nor did they have the faith to say,

  • ~ "The heck with this stagnant and stale counsel, we're grown men and women and we can pray with whoever we want to pray with!"

    • Mt 7:7 "Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
    Jn 5:44 How can you believe, who receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?


    The Cobu Code of Conduct => We do what we were taught / while LW is about seeking our answers from Above


  • ~ You see Mike, the scripture counsels that we should not seek to receive glory from one another,
  • ~ yet in Cobu this is what Stewart Traill taught us to do!
  • ~ This was one of the main counsels to keep everyone in line.
  • ~ Stewart Traill convinced us that "faithfulness" to God, was equal to "faithfulness to the fellowship of the brothers" or "the sisters."
  • ~ This was one of the many crafty ways that Stewart Traill controlled our lives.
  • ~ He got us to give up more and more of our individuality and more and more of our own interests,
  • ~ He got us NOT to trust in the convictions of our own hearts, souls, and minds.
  • ~ So many are still stuck in this "grip"
  • ~ that even years after they've left the church of our youth, many continue "to trust in the counsel of each other"
  • ~ instead of taking the time to seek God in prayer!
  • ~ LW is a prayer ministry.
  • ~ We seek God in prayer.
  • ~ We seek God in prayer individually.
  • ~ We seek God in prayer together about our concerns.
  • ~ We seek God in prayer with those who ask us to pray with them.
  • ~ We seek God in prayer for those who ask us to pray for them.
  • ~ We are those who SEEK God!
  • ~ Yet the "counsel of the brothers" is based on fear and sadly counsels others not to seek God in prayer!
  • ~ This is counter-productive!
  • ~ This is counter-scripture!
  • ~ And, as the scripture points out here: "How can you believe, who receive glory from one another?" You can't!

    • Jn 6:28 Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?"
    Jn 6:29 Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."

  • ~ With regard to the way the "older brothers and sisters" projected their obligations on each of us, without regard to our own convictions,
  • ~ nor a willingness to even consider what might bless our own lives:
  • ~ like dating, getting married, having children, pursuing higher education, a career, or even personal interests: like owning a pet or pursuing a hobby.
  • ~ It seemed to be more of a "Borg-like" society ~ than a society based on "walking by faith" in someones personal convictions.

    •
  • ~ What did the Borg say in Star Trek? "We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile!"

  • ~ How close is that to our Cobu lifestyle?

    •
  • ~ Living Water ministry and Dave and my personal faith, is about "going outside of the Cobu box"

  • ~ about seeing what God the Father and Our Lord Jesus Christ has for us,

  • ~ and "not submitting" to the convictions of someone else,

  • ~ as God has something unique for each of us!

    •

    Just because someone has "influence" from a position held "once upon a time" doesn't mean they act honorably


  • ~ On the same subject, about being swayed by the scruples of "the group" even years after leaving it, I'd like to share another experience that I witnessed:

  • ~ I went to a Reunion and a brother had assisted one of the brothers who had a wheel chair, by parking his vehicle.
  • ~ Hours later, the brother needed it to seek the rest area, but when we went to the brother who had parked it, he wouldn't assist in retrieving the vehicle.
  • ~ He just waved his arm in the general direction of the massive parking lot, and stated that it was a large van and told us its color,
  • ~ Even though he was well aware that the brother was in urgent need, he didn't show the least interest in being helpful.
  • ~ My son David, Dan's son Tommy, Tod, Dave, Joe Carilli and Dan Cooper, 6 LW brothers, raced up the steep hill,
  • ~ as they franticly combed the 3 tiered parking lot, checking license plates,
  • ~ peering inside many vans to see if the drivers seat was missing in order to find this much needed vehicle.

    •
  • ~ While the older brother, who had parked it and knew exactly where it was, stood around chatting with his old friends,

  • ~ unconcerned that this brother was in stress and urgent need!

    •
  • ~ Dan Cooper, finally found the vehicle, and though difficult to drive, with no "drivers seat"
  • ~ Dan managed, just sitting on a crate or bucket, he headed down to the picnic area everyone was meeting in.
  • ~ As I obtained permission from the park police authorities for the van to be brought as close to the brother as possible,
  • ~ since it was difficult for him to navigate the grassy, bumpy terrain, especially when he was in need of a rest room.
  • ~ I just want to address an observation:

  • ~ How many times do we bow down to those who have "supposed clout" when they haven't really "been there for us?"

  • ~ Or how many times have we given honor to those who haven't acted honorably towards us,

  • ~ but carry some "influence" due to "a position" they held "once upon a time?"

  • ~ How many times have you seen some who disregard the weightier matters of:

  • ~ being sincere, being genuine, being kind, responsible,

  • ~ or just being there when one is needed,

  • ~ but instead does things "with eye service" or "just when others are observing them,"

  • ~ who seem to forget that our heavenly Father looks on the heart?

    • Cobu, where 'NOT CARING' was Standard Fare


  • ~ To me, this was a classic example of the degree of non-caring and unkindness,

  • ~ that our "wonder church" Cobu was actually known to express.

  • ~ We lived in a group that didn't have the tiniest bit of care nor concern for the members who financed it.

  • ~ We lived in a group that taught that "it was okay" to put your own interests above the interests of others.

  • ~ As this older brother did when it didn't even seem to occur to him that he should help find the van,

  • ~ that he alone had the knowledge of where it was,

  • ~ because he parked it!

  • ~ And someone had immediate need of it!

    •

    Cobu, where honor was given to the Dishonorable


  • ~ We lived in a group that honored those who treated those under them harshly,

  • ~ and openly treated others as though their basic human needs were unimportant.

  • ~ Stewart Traill didn't have one shred of concern for those who financed his empire,

  • ~ who had the need to take a simple bathroom break!

  • ~ One brother testified that he was so worried about getting "criticized" or "humiliated"

  • ~ that rather than deal with the stress of that "he actually peed himself" during Communion!

  • ~ At a Stewart Traill led Cobu meeting that he was told "was God's best" and "a safe land!"

  • ~ Stewart Traill taught that it was okay to be unconcerned for the needs of others,

  • ~ much like this older brother, who didn't have the least concern for someone,

  • ~ who could have really used his knowledge of where he parked the man's own vehicle.

  • ~ Stewart Traill not only didn't care,

  • ~ he took pleasure in insulting, ridiculing, and frustrating,

  • ~ anyone just because they had the need to use the bathroom!

  • ~ Cobu, the only church where you need to invest in "Depends" just to attend a meeting!

  • ~ Cobu, where "the trusted older brothers" followed in Stewart Traill's oppressive example!

  • ~ Cobu, where those who "left" years ago still can't shake the belief that Stewart was honorable!

    •

    When the CON is so strong that sound Advice is Ignored


  • ~ Stewart Traill duped a bunch of young people into believing that "he was worthy" of our allegiance,

  • ~ when he was not even considerate on a simple human level!

  • ~ Stewart Traill was an example of being a sociopath,

  • ~ unable to empathize with the most basic of human needs,

  • ~ and only interested in what mattered to himself:

  • ~ namely more of our strength,

  • ~ more of our earnings,

  • ~ and more of our undivided attentions to his every bit of dribble that proceeded from his mouth!

  • ~ Unfortunately, some of us were lured into his scam at such a young age,

  • ~ that we were unable to recognize the signs of a con artist,

  • ~ and our convincing was so solid,

  • ~ that we had no ability to hear when our own families tried to convince us to leave Cobu.

  • ~ If you are still in Cobu now, or have left and are still "under it's influence"

  • ~ you do not need to continue to:

  • ~ volunteer your life,

  • ~ volunteer your heart, or

  • ~ volunteer your thoughts to this mad man any longer!

    •
  • ~ What would you tell a child who accidentally was viewing a horror movie?

    •
  • ~ "QUICK ~ CHANGE THE CHANNEL!" or "RUN!" "GET to SAFETY!" "LEAVE the CULT!"

  • ~ Unfortunately, some of us were ill equipped to recognize that we had been had.

  • ~ In our misfortune of "being had" or "being duped" by a con artist twice or three times our age,

  • ~ these residual "beliefs" that colored our understanding of "Christian ethics"

  • ~ when we were so young and impressionable, unfortunately still reside in many of us years later.

    •

    When Unacceptable Behavior is thought of as being Okay


  • ~ The way that we might think that one thing is "acceptable"

  • ~ because "we saw Stewart Traill doing it" in front of us over and over again for years,

  • ~ when in truth many of the things that became "ingrained" in our belief systems as "acceptable"

  • ~ was actually despicable, offensive, and in no way exemplifies any hint of goodness, kindness, or true Christian ethics.

  • ~ These "bread in the bone" reflections that we embraced,

  • ~ because we were misled by a selfish and cruel con artist,

  • ~ need to be cleansed from our hearts, souls, minds, and behaviors.

  • ~ Many who were led astray in Stewart Traill's misguided and poor excuse for godliness,

  • ~ that doesn't even reflect even natural common decency,

  • ~ that even most unsaved people are able to reflect, because they "were raised right" by their parents.

  • ~ Stewart Traill's own father, who was a respected pastor and teacher disowned his son,

  • ~ and didn't want him to even attend his own funeral,

  • ~ because he despised the way that he saw his son taking advantage of young people,

  • ~ especially impressionable young girls.

  • ~ Stewart Traill's own brother did not even tell his own wife nor children that he was even related to him!

    •

    The Way to be Released from the Grip of Unjust Devotion


  • ~ It is our hope and purpose to expose these:

  • ~ clear to some, but possibly not so clear to others:

  • ~ "grips" that have taken hold of the hearts and minds of many.

  • ~ If these "grips" that cause some to still "respect" or "cherish" or "think of as godly"

  • ~ a man who wasn't even close to respectable, nor right, nor even humanly descent,

  • ~ they could still be doing hurtful and unkind things to others,

  • ~ and not even think that what they've done or may do, is wrong or indecent.

  • ~ It is our intention to erase any idea that Stewart Traill is any example:

  • ~ of goodness,

  • ~ or godliness,

  • ~ or justice,

  • ~ and that those who had been entrapped by his scam,

  • ~ could ask God to free them "from any residual belief" that he portrayed anything close to godliness.

  • ~ Some may not even see the way that they continue to "reflect" in their conduct what we learned from Stewart Traill.

    •
  • ~ How could anyone "discontinue" or "disconnect from" thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and behaviors,

  • ~ that became ingrained within their personalities during their most impressionable years?

    •
  • ~ Jesus alone is able to heal us of the residual powers that we subjected ourselves to.

  • ~ Yet, being able to open our own eyes to these "strongholds" takes faith and a belief that God can bless us, heal us, restore and strengthen us.

  • ~ It takes faith to admit the damage that Stewart Traill's poor example did to we who sat at his feet.

  • ~ It takes faith to believe that "just looking at the residual disrespectable attitudes" we embraced and still may employ,

  • ~ won't swallow us up, cause us to become overwhelmed, and that we can "heal" the damage that still "hangs on" to our very souls.

  • ~ Because Jesus Christ alone died for our sins and is the ONLY person with the power to grant us freedom from all bondage!

  • ~ Jesus Christ is the ONLY person worthy of our love, our honor and our devotion.

    • Eph 6:6 not in the way of eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
    Eph 5:11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.
    1Sa 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart."
    Ps 14:2 The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any that act wisely, that seek after God.
    Lk 4:36 And they were all amazed and said to one another, "What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out."
    Lk 6:19 And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came forth from him and healed them all.
    Lk 9:1 And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases,
    Act 26:18 to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'
    1Jn 3:3 And every one who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
    Heb 2:9 But we see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for every one.
    Rev 5:12 saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!"
    Mt 23:23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

    A blessing is only received by those who seek it



  • ~ Or when someone wants to "receive a blessing" but "it isn't popular among your old crowd" so you deny yourself a blessing,

  • ~ that God may want to extend to you and your family.

  • ~ Where were the popular ones when you were stressed out and in need of being heard?

  • ~ Upon my fathers death, I went to his home to pick up some things.
  • ~ Needing boxes I went to a local supermarket and ran into this same older brother: who didn't want to help find the van he parked.
  • ~ He seemed very glad to see my husband and I and even followed us back to my fathers home, speaking with us for quite awhile.
  • ~ Yet when seeing him at the Reunion, he didn't seem to want to give us the time of day, and he seemed to look at us as if to say,
  • ~ "Just because I talked to you in my home town, doesn't mean I have any interest in associating with you at this venue!"
  • ~ This behavior we have found many times among those who were "reputed to be something" yet it is actually insincerity.
  • ~ Paul spoke about it in Galatians chapter 2, when Peter sat with the Gentiles, until his old buddies showed up.

  • ~ Paul opposed him to his face though, for his insincerity, even though Peter had much more clout, among the Christians of that day, than Paul.

  • ~ On this page, I'm answering YOU Mike, about how YOU feel a need to "obligate us" my husband and our ministry ~ and we're saying, "No."

  • ~ We don't have any problem "answering anyones questions" as we have always been open to answer any questions posed to us.

  • ~ As we supplied: "Our Statement of Faith => The Oil Blessing" when YOU said that YOU and those on YOUR site had questions.

  • ~ We will not however, entertain the idea, that YOU or anyone else should turn someone away from obtaining a blessing.

  • ~ "Just because YOU seem to have no faith in anything outside of YOUR personal view of what's acceptable."

  • ~ "Just because YOU seem to have no faith in 'what the Lord God may want to extend for someone else!"


    • I want to see people blessed


  • ~ I do apologize however, that in my effort to present my case, I have become "more than long winded!"


  • ~ Just last night Tod had me: ROTFLOL, literally, almost in tears, as he teased me about this page: my own personal "never ending story!"

  • ~ I told him, "I can't help it if my cup just keeps overflowing with one example after the next on this subject that's important to me!"

  • ~ I want to see people blessed ~ and I'm tired of seeing "all the doubters" and "nay-sayers" and "fault-finders" throwing everyone else under the bus.

  • ~ Just because they have an extremely limited ability to even hear anyone else out!

  • ~ I asked Tod, "How is it that Mike can go on and on for days pontificating about Dave ,

  • ~ and currently making nasty, cutting, judgmental comments: just because Dave clicked "like" when he read a post,

  • ~ yet Mike is counted as "the injured party?"

  • ~ It was very much appreciated that Jim called Mike out on his insistence on "vetting" but the scales always seem to tip in Mikes favor,

  • ~ even when he is doing things that have no place in polite society, not to mention Christian etiquette.

  • ~ I mean, Dave hardly ever even opens Cobu Stories, because our daily obligations offer very little time for even viewing it,

  • ~ so that if we "check it out" once in a while and make a comment,

  • ~ Why do we have to be subjected to Mike Montoya's slanderous, character slighting, vile comments all the time!?

  • ~ Yet, poor little Mike is counted as "the injured party" ~ because we gave him a link!?

  • ~ Oh, sorry, I digress.

  • ~ Have I just pointed out, yet another blatant impropriety,

  • ~ of how certain persons are given "carte blanche"

  • ~ when it comes to acting completely inappropriately!?

  • ~ Have any of you read some of the colorful comments he's put on Cobu Stories about my husband Dave,

  • ~ and how he followed other LW brothers: Tod and John whenever they'd make a post?

  • ~ Would any of you like to have things said of you, the way Mike has given free reign to his insults of my husband Dave?

  • ~ And what grounds does Mike sight with regard to his nasty and vile comments?

  • ~ Why do you Mike have such a problem that Dave has offered a ministry that he was given by God: through prophetic utterance?

  • ~ Why do you Mike have such a problem with our ministry?

  • ~ Why are you against a ministry whose sole purpose is to pray with others who desire prayer and extend healing for those who are hurting?

  • ~ Maybe Michael James Montoya, born of the spirit, thinks that it would be much better if Dave hide his light under a bushel?

  • ~ Perhaps you would prefer it Michael if Dave act as though he hasn't received a blessing?

  • ~ Or Michael, do you think the proper thing for Dave to do with his blessing for others is to go dig a hole in the ground and put his talent in a grave?

    •
  • ~ Thanks a lot Mike, for showing how little you know about Christian dignity and just simple honorable behavior,

  • ~ as Dave has extended to you even though you don't deserve it!

  • ~ My husband is one of the most genuinely sincere people I've ever met in my entire life,

  • ~ and although I'm his wife, I'm not the only one who thinks highly of him!

  • ~ Yet your posts with regard to my husband are absolutely despicable and reflect your nature!

  • ~ That's why Dave "liked" your comment ~ because he does show through his conduct who he is,

  • ~ just as you also show through your conduct who you are!

    • Pro 20:11 Even a child makes himself known by his acts, whether what he does is pure and right.
    2Sa 22:26 "With the loyal thou dost show thyself loyal; with the blameless man thou dost show thyself blameless;
    2Sa 22:27 with the pure thou dost show thyself pure, and with the crooked thou dost show thyself perverse.
    Job 13:10 He will surely rebuke you if in secret you show partiality.

  • ~ And pardon me if I point it out: the complete lack of Christian conduct,

  • ~ but who would expect that from a "great and wonderful" biblical scholar,

  • ~ much like that other "great and wonderful" bible teacher we used to bow down to, but wasn't worth his salt, aye!

  • ~ Sorry for stating the obvious once again, but this parallel is all too familiar!

  • ~ You seem to have taken on some role as "the judge and jury" of all things Cobu.

    •
  • ~ How is it that you seem to think "your view" is supreme?

  • ~ How is it that you feel that you have an obligation to judge everyone else?

  • ~ Why is it that you Mike feel such a great need to monopolize every venue, even those not your own?

  • ~ Why do you feel that your own "flavor of beliefs" and your own narrow opinion of "acceptable behavior" is more valid than ours!?

  • ~ Another parallel with the way that Traill monopolized everyone else's reality.


    [def. carte blanche - complete freedom to act as one wishes or thinks best. "Mike Montoya has always been given carte blanche in respect to saying any negative thing that he wants publicly about a person ~ because in his mind: "being insulting" is "testing" a mans faith, or his patience, as it seems!"
    synonyms: free rein, a free hand, a blank check
    "Mike Montoya also gave his buddy's carte blanche, as they jumped on the bandwagon and also spoke insultingly to someone who only sought to: "answer their question about his ministry" ~ I guess I just didn't realize that "being insulting" is the new: "good Christian conduct" according to some!]

    [def. despicable - deserving hatred and contempt. "It is despicable of Mike to treat someone as kind and respectable as Dave is, with such insolent disregard, as to mock a man publicly, when you neither know him, nor can hold a candle to him!" synonyms: contemptible, loathsome, hateful, detestable, reprehensible, abhorrent, abominable, awful, heinous; odious, vile, low, mean, abject, shameful, ignominious, shabby, ignoble, disreputable, discreditable, unworthy; informal: dirty, rotten, lowdown, lousy; beastly; archaic: scurvy]

    [def. insolent - showing a rude and arrogant lack of respect. "It is insolent to treat a man of dignity with cheap shots and vulgar words, but it's hardly unexpected of one who was weaned on the milk of Stewart Traill and has not yet managed to become free from the grip of like-behavior." synonyms: impertinent, impudent, cheeky, ill-mannered, bad-mannered, unmannerly, rude, impolite, uncivil, discourteous, disrespectful, insubordinate, contemptuous; audacious, bold, cocky, brazen, pert; insulting, abusive; informal: fresh, lippy, saucy, sassy, smart-alecky]

    [def. impropriety - a failure to observe standards or show due honesty or modesty; improper language, behavior, or character.
    "Mike continues to show impropriety in the way that he seems to think he has a right to call out people publicly on a whim!"
    "Some people aren't bright enough to realize the impropriety of publicly bashing someone's personal faith." synonyms: wrongdoing, misconduct, dishonesty, corruption, unscrupulousness, unprofessionalism, irregularity; unseemliness, indecorousness, indelicacy, indecency, immorality]

    [def. inappropriate - not suitable or proper in the circumstances.
    "Mike doesn't seem to realize that there are penalties for inappropriate behavior, although for some reason he's been quite good at getting most to overlook what is apparent to others."
    "It's quite incongruous that the inappropriate verbiage that Mike presents against one older brother, would never be acceptable if it were dished out toward the one spewing his spleen ~ yes!?
    synonyms: unsuitable, unfitting, unseemly, unbecoming, unbefitting, improper, impolite; incongruous, out of place/keeping, inapposite, inapt, infelicitous, ill-suited; ill-judged, ill-advised; informal: out of order / line; ]

    [def. parallel - a person or thing that is similar or analogous to another.
    "If one has a discerning eye, he can clearly see the parallel between what was inappropriate yet accepted in ones youth, that continues to be inappropriate yet accepted in ones advanced years." (Selah)
    synonyms: counterpart, analog, equivalent, likeness, match, twin, duplicate, mirror "an exact parallel"]


    When the perspective of one may be different than the perspective of another



  • ~ And here's just my personal perspective:

  • ~ "If a five year old is "acting like a Tasmanian devil and is "spinning quit out of control, "bumping into walls and such,"

  • ~ falling on the floor, tapping on his watch, and expecting everyone else around him to "pay him mind"

  • ~ why would his 15 year old, twin siblings: who are quite busy instant messaging their friends or completing their own homework assignments,

  • ~ have a need to "stop everything that they're doing" to "give him the time of day?" Just an observation.

  • ~ And, on that note:

  • ~ Why would the 15 year olds be obligated "to be banned" from "the house" or the "website, as it were"

  • ~ just "because their perspectives happen to be different" from their "5 year old little brother: who's spinning quite out of control?"

    •
  • ~ because everyone on the planet knows that: 15 year olds have the EXACT same perspective as their 5 year old little sibling! NOT!

  • ~ Oh, and "vet" that perspective! Thou dubious "injured party!" and all "your little friends!"

  • ~ Oh, and that doesn't mean that the 15 year olds don't love their little Tasmanian devil sibling,

  • ~ they just can't afford to allow him to occupy every ounce of their attention,

  • ~ even if he does tend to "spin quite out of control from time to time"

  • ~ perhaps he can "whittle a pipe" "try on a colorful clown wig" "make a new court jesters hat with bells on it"

  • ~ "make just one more video presentation on YouTube to Stewart Traill, who probably isn't listenin' or watchin' anyway"

  • ~ or "do something else equally constructive,"

  • ~ just because we're not "engaging him", doesn't mean "we don't have our eye on the delightful little bloke!"

  • ~ While waiting for his much needed questions to be attended ~ my mistake ~ he hasn't thought of any yet ~ still scratching his little bean, old boyo!?

    •
  • ~ That's okay, take your time, figure it all out, we've already waited almost four whole years for you to figure out your little question,

  • ~ We're Christian, we have patience ~ just like you ~ oops, sorry, my mistake:

  • ~ just because someone writes and videos lengthy commentaries, doesn't mean they exercise the fruits of the Holy Spirit of God!

  • ~ Wouldn't want to expect things that are quite outside of someones area of expertise!


    •

    The Moderator's Scales are completely off Balance

    ~ Another observation: acceptable behavior to some: (1) tapping on watch ~ (2) demanding immediate replies ~ (3) accusing a sister of "wrong doing" when all she did was give her LW testimony after she read that you Mike, had questions about it ~ (4) refusing to allow a brother to give his LW testimony on your xCobu Yahoo website, even though he was responding to your inquiry about our ministry ~ (5) making a public post to a group that they couldn't reply to ~ (6) because Mike canceled the memberships of 4 xboos ~ (7) when they answered his questions ~ (8) demanding to "vet" my husband who hadn't applied for a position ~ (9) demanding apologies while you were the one provoking my husband for days on Cobu stories ~ (10) cursing a man and ~ (11) his ministry and ~ (12) calling him names like: "weird" publicly ~ because he "liked" your post! (13) while chasing LW members around Cobu Stories every time they made a post, to project negative cuts to them publicly ~


  • ~ and all of this is considered "acceptable Christian behavior!"
  • ~ and according to all of his buddies: completely harmless, acceptable,
  • ~ and doesn't get a rise out of anybody for gosh sakes,
  • ~ and of course the icing on the cake: that Mike was considered "the injured party!"

    •

    ~ unlike when Dave has only: (1) written a post of his own "statement of faith" ~ because he read that YOU Mike and those on YOUR xCobu website had questions and an interest in our ministry, (2) offered a "link" of a reply to this letter that YOU wrote and made public to him on YOUR xCobu Yahoo site, (3) gave YOU a greeting, and (4) "liked" a post that he actually: liked!


  • ~ And all of these things gave YOU Mike: carte blanche, to cut Dave down publicly ~ because why, according to you it was "the Christian" thing to do!?
  • ~ I wonder how many of YOUR friends could maintain the type of Christian integrity that Dave has, if they had been challenged similarly, with YOUR blatant, vile, and provoking comments?


  • ~ Just trying to connect some dots here, that some have: as is their usual practice, gone quite overlooked!!


    • Pro 16:11 A just balance and scales are the LORD's; all the weights in the bag are his work.
    Pro 20:23 Diverse weights are an abomination to the LORD, and false scales are not good.
    Mic 6:11 Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales and with a bag of deceitful weights?
    Mk 14:56 For many bore false witness against him, and their witness did not agree.

    Submitting to One Another has Nothing to do with Walking by Faith in God
  • ~ In that light, or in light of YOU approving of each other when what was done was unjust, lets consider what "walking by faith" really has to do with.

  • ~ Subjecting ourselves to someone else's scruples is not by any stretch of the imagination: "walking by faith" ~ it's "submitting to the collective"

  • ~ or "submitting to someone else's view" ~ much like receiving "vetting" from someone who still remains inside a box. It ain't happening!

  • ~ We were so "hooked up" in Cobu, that at the age of 25 the "older brothers and sisters" thought they could break up relationships and push us around!

  • ~ Unfortunately, some men and women who used to submit to the "counsel of the older brothers and sisters" then (when they were IN COBU)

  • ~ continue to submit to the "counsel of the older brothers and sisters" even today (when "supposedly" OUT of COBU)!

  • ~ When they, themselves are over 50 years old today!!!

  • ~ And I am saying: "Hello ~ doesn't anyone else see anything wrong with this picture!?"

  • ~ I'm so very, very, thankful, that Dave and I walked by faith, when in Cobu and continue to walk by faith today!

  • ~ There are plenty of 15 year olds around today, who won't allow their own parents to "dictate to them" who they can "be friends with" or "date"

  • ~ yet, "our wonder church" had no ability to allow the freedom of walking by our own faith,

  • ~ and trusting in the leading of the Holy Spirit of God in the individual,

  • ~ or even "having any personal freedoms" at all ~ no matter what our age!

  • ~ Some people feel that it's "their right and privilege" to stifle the voice and the view of anyone who has a view that differs from their own,

  • ~ and this my friend, is a very reclusive or narrow minded existence, and not one that is open to "seeing what God might have" for us!

  • ~ To only open YOUR door or website to "only those" who need "to be sheltered" from anyone with "a different view or perception" is very stifled.

  • ~ Mike, YOU already voted against us when YOU canceled our memberships to YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB.

    • Unlike The Moderator LW does not Impose itself on Anyone

  • ~ Yet, had YOU simply sent us an email and said that YOU didn't feel anyone in YOUR CLUB had an interest in our posts,

  • ~ we would have complied upon the asking and left YOUR group, no questions asked, no problem.

  • ~ We've never been into imposing ourselves upon others, ever.

  • ~ We only supplied information to you AFTER you said that YOU had an interest in our ministry!

  • ~ The fact that YOU felt the need to close the door in our face, after we shared "who we are" when YOU asked,

  • ~ shows a very small amount of personal faith, proper etiquette or especially any appropriate Christian conduct.

    •

    Dave and I are about walking by faith and keeping our Commitments

  • ~ Continuing our relationship, in the cult that was into actively preventing them,

  • ~ was one example of walking by faith in God, that we participated in!

  • ~ This is the type of person that Dave Simmons is, the type that stands by his personal commitments!

  • ~ We've been together 33 years and neither has regretted our choice!

  • ~ I moved out of Cobu on February 1st 1984, into an apartment in New Jersey by myself.

  • ~ Dave graduated from college with honors,

  • ~ and received the Ed Koch "Outstanding Achievement Award" from his professors!

  • ~ One of his professors invited us to his home, where he and his wife cooked dinner for us!

  • ~ Dave was very popular with a lot of his professors, some gave him the "high five" as they'd enter the lecture halls.

  • ~ I attended several of his classes with him and took notes for him at times.

  • ~ I also typed up his papers, assisting him in his goals.

  • ~ Dave and I got married on June 29, 1985, after he graduated from college.

  • ~ At our wedding, when asked: "Do you take this woman to be your wife?" Dave replied strongly: "Absolutely!"

  • ~ The pastor of my Aunts: Born Again Christian church drove from Western Pennsylvania to Eastern New Jersey just to marry us!

  • ~ They wouldn't even take gas money, but said it was their pleasure to marry us!

  • ~ Dave went on to obtain his Masters Degree in education.

  • ~ Once at an informal faculty meeting, one of the teachers who was repeatedly late challenged the principal, saying,

  • ~ "You don't believe me when I tell you there were delays! I bet you don't believe any of us!"

  • ~ And the principal replied, "Dave Simmons is the only one of you that I trust unequivocally!"


  • ~ Many times over the years his students have named him "their favorite teacher."
  • ~ He turned the lives of many of his students around.
  • ~ Years later, students have run into him on the street, with their baby carriages, and say,
    •
  • ~ "Hey Mr. Simmons! Do you remember me?" and he usually does!

  • ~ They always send the big, male teachers to the tougher schools.

  • ~ Dave taught in some of the toughest classrooms in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

  • ~ He had many colorful experiences in his 30 years of teaching.

  • ~ Dave teaches "Home Instruction" in Harlem NYC, for the Board of Ed,

  • ~ that provide teachers for those who can't go to school, usually for medical reasons.


  • ~ In addition to being a full time teacher, Dave also had a successful carpet and furniture cleaning business,

  • ~ and wood floor: sanding, refinishing, and installation business.

  • ~ Many young men who've worked for my husband over the years have said that he was the best boss they ever had the chance to work for.


  • ~ Dave has always been a faithful provider for our family.


  • ~ In Cobu, Stewart got many a married sister to cut down their own husbands, and many continue this practice in their thoughts and in their hearts and sometimes even in their words ~ yet I have always (whether in Cobu or since Cobu and to this day), been very proud and thankful for the man that God found to take me to be his wife: David L. Simmons.

  • ~ And many brothers neglected the tender care of their sons and daughters in Cobu, and out of Cobu, yet my husband has always been a gentle father to our son and taught him patiently many things.

  • ~ And there are many sons and daughters who look down on their fathers, but my son David and many of his friends respect, look up to, and enjoy any opportunity they have to speak with my husband Dave!

  • ~ And I give our precious son: a great big "thank you David" for all the time that he has been patient when Dave and I have taken the time to listen to others, visit with others, and pray with others ~ yet my son has always had our ear and our heart and knows it.

  • ~ Our son was proud to join us at an xCobu reunion, and when one of the brothers introduced himself to my son, David said to him, "Oh, I know your name, my parents pray for you everyday!"

  • ~ He had never met our son before, he was one of the ones who came and received prayer and the anointing with oil. When my son showed him his own name on our prayer list he was amazed!

  • ~ Once we were at a "Big K Mart" with our son, and we ran into someone from Cobu. Our son was still pretty young, and some brothers and sisters don't tell their children about Cobu. The brother said to our son, "I bet you don't know where I know your parents from?" And David answered, "Cobu, right?" And the brother looked dumb founded. Our ministry began in 1987 and our son was born in 1989.

    •
    In 1998 I started a web page specifically to get ex-members in touch with each other. Soon after the web page I signed up for the OneList discussions. Then later I joined Yahoogroups and the list you are on right now is the very same. I am the list owner and moderator. It has been my intention, and most of my actions bear this out, that I have endeavored to manage this list with the hope that ex-members will find the ones they knew in the group and by talking things out and praying for one another brethren in Christ can heal from the damage they incurred in the cobu. Because this list is for ex-members, it means that the ex-member who is a christian right now and the ex-member who is not a christian right now are both welcome here.

    The Moderator "thinks" that he's Welcoming when he cancels memberships for answering Questions


  • ~ Living Water began in March 1988, even though we met twice a week during the last four months of 1987,
  • ~ with at least 25 former Cobu brothers and sisters who met with us to sing, pray for each other and read the Bible together.
  • ~ Later, one brother made some, very Cobu-like, harsh comments about some of the brothers, after that no one wanted to meet together any longer.
  • ~ Dave and I continued to seek God on our own and Living Water began anew in March 1988.


  • ~ We knew that Tod Burros was an active contributor on your xCobu Yahoo group,

  • ~ but I never heard about any praying together or healing.

  • ~ What I read seemed more like arguments, slander, scoffing and cutting each other down.


    •
  • ~ How is it that YOU can call slamming a door in the face of 3 brothers and a sister with a NO LONGER A MEMBER, message: welcoming!?

  • ~ Are YOU really unaware of the blatant contradictions that YOUR words and actions extend?

  • ~ Do YOU know how many times I've had to shake my head in unbelief as I've perused this "letter"

  • ~ that YOU and YOUR friends came up with, "in YOUR effort" to FIND FAULT,

  • ~ with we who've only sought to pray with those who are hurting,

  • ~ and allow them to bring some blessing from God with them if they met with us!?

  • ~ I'm really curious though, was this letter "mostly" drafted by just YOU?

  • ~ Or are you just easily manipulated by YOUR constituents?

  • ~ Or was this whole kiss-off letter just "brain-stormed"

  • ~ and wasn't even looked over to consider if it made any sense!?

  • ~ Do YOU even know how back & forth and maniacal YOUR words and actions came across?

    •
  • ~ The way that you rejected Jan Hilton, Dan Cooper, Tod Burros, and my husband Dave showed me just how unwelcoming you treated these ex-members of Cobu, as the owner and moderator of YOUR CLUB site.

  • ~ Their only fault: answering YOUR "we have questions" by posting what helped them to heal from the damage they incurred in Cobu by receiving "the blessing of the oil" and prayer, unfortunately YOU did not receive our testimony.

    • Jn 3:11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen; but you do not receive our testimony.

    There are rules on this list. These rules have evolved over time as circumstances have arisen which were unforeseen and by the amount of personal email I have received, some not very nice, I have had to step in and take action. I have had to expel some who could not abide the rules of this forum. I have had to warn some who knowingly or unknowingly have made misteps. There are over 130 members on this list and there is the same amount over at Cobu Survivors. There have been other lists and I even started a second list so that arguers could have a place to really have it out but the Sharpen list was hardly used. Everyone here wanted to stay here and so it was necessary to make rules so that discussions ranging from politics to church doctrine to our time under ST all could be hashed out here and that our Lord would be pleased by our love for one another.

    The Moderator doesn't even keep his own "rules" of Conduct


  • ~ I'll tell you Mike, when I read this part of your post, I couldn't help but think to myself,

  • ~ "Hey, wait a minute, did Mike Montoya actually include this comment in his "LW kiss-off post!?"

  • ~ "He didn't actually write this out, did he?"

  • ~ "Wait a minute, hold the phone, he did not just suggest or confess:

  • ~ that EVERYONE else that he's 'expelled' 'shown the door to' 'given the boot to' or 'the old heave ho'

  • ~ was actually "GIVEN a WARNING first!!!!"

  • ~ For having the misfortune of "knowingly or unknowingly" making "misteps" on the Mike Montoya xcobu Yahoo CLUB site!!!!

  • ~ WAIT A MINUTE!

  • ~ Michael, Michael, YOU didn't say this in your kiss-off letter to LW did YOU!!!??

  • ~ Don't YOU realize that: YOU NEVER gave LW any WARNING at ALL!!!?

    •
  • ~ Nada!! Nothing!! No Warnings for any of we who are Living Water~ just:

  • ~ Told us that YOU and those in YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB had questions about OUR LW Ministry

  • ~ so we provided to YOU and those in YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB => Our Statement of Faith: The Oil Blessing

  • ~ and Jan, likewise gives YOU and YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB her "Story of Freedom"

  • ~ and Dan, asked YOU directly if he could also give YOU and YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB his testimony of receiving an Oil Blessing

  • ~ and WITHOUT any WARNING at ALL ~ BING, BANG, BOOM ~ YOU Michael James Montoya, born of the Spirit ~ PULLED the PLUG!!

  • ~ and gave FOUR xboo's, (who did nothing more than SHARE THEIR Ministry "AT YOUR REQUEST" no less!!! )

  • ~ and due to these: "UNACCEPTABLE to YOU": Michael James Montoya ~ POSTS of OUR own experiences and desire to BE A BLESSING:

  • ~ YOU GAVE US ~ a, NO LONGER A MEMBER message ~ when we tried to log into YOUR CLUB!!!!

    •
  • ~ So, Mike, WHY did you include this deception in YOUR Kiss-off letter to LW!??

  • ~ YOU didn't Give Us ANY WARNING!!!

  • ~ In FACT, we were actually ANSWERING YOUR POST, that YOU and those in YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB:

  • ~ had questions and "we thought" (stupid us), INTEREST, in what OUR Ministry is all about!!!!

  • ~ It's so strange that YOU keep pontificating that YOU and those in YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB "have questions"

  • ~ when YOU actually don't have ANY interest AT all!!

  • ~ This is called: Lying. We learned all about it in the third grade!!!

  • ~ So Mike, currently on Cobu Stories, YOU are working very hard to discredit our ministry, demand apologies, and sew doubt about our character,

  • ~ our only fault was: trusting that YOU and those in YOUR CLUB were genuine when YOU said YOU had questions and an interest in our Ministry!!

  • ~ and we REPLIED and then: BING, BANG, BOOM, WITHOUT ANY WARNING, YOU Michael James Montoya born of the spirit,

  • ~ Kicked THREE BROTHERS and a SISTER out of YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB!!!

  • ~ This is YOUR witness Mike!!!

  • ~ And YOU think that YOU can "vet" us?

  • ~ YOU don't even keep YOUR OWN "Rules of Conduct!"

  • ~ That YOU extend WARNINGS!! HA!!

  • ~ but YOU omitted this "rule" when YOU canceled the Memberships of those from LW,

  • ~ who did nothing more than: respond TO YOUR INTEREST and YOUR questions!!!

    •

    Insulting, Judging, Scoffing, Fault Finding and Verbal Bashing is Okay with The Moderator


  • ~ At a certain point Chris Blaise, in your xCobu Yahoo CLUB, began to bad mouth:

  • ~ my husband Dave, my brother Tod, myself and our fellowship: Living Water, a/k/a LW,

  • ~ just going on and on, insulting, judging, scoffing, fault finding and plain old bashing us verbally,

  • ~ though he never brought any of his complaints to any of us personally,

  • ~ and which our only response to his numerous slights and slanders was: Not Guilty!

  • ~ This was another wrong teaching of Stewart Traill and Cobu:

  • ~ that it's okay to publicly insult a brother, without even speaking privately with him first!


    • Mt 18:15 "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
    Mt 5:22 But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council...
    Jas 1:20 for the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God.

  • ~ So, YOU Mike and some of the members of YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB,

  • ~ listened to all of Chris Blaise's vitriol, and angst on your site, without any sensor.

  • ~ While YOU kicked all of us OUT of YOUR CLUB for doing nothing more than answering YOUR inquiry ~ and sharing personal experiences!

  • ~ Yet YOU still say that you did no wrong and that YOU have more questions!

    •
  • ~ So, why'd YOU cut us loose?

    •

    Hurling Cutting Slurs against other xboos who never did any wrong to anyone is Okay with The Moderator


  • ~ Some of those "loving" members, even joined in with Chris, describing the name of our ministry as: "bitter water," "dead in the water," etc.,

  • ~ but did YOU kick them OUT of YOUR CLUB!?

  • ~ OH no! YOU can't kick out people who are slandering and cutting someones ministry, that's what YOU approve of!!

  • ~ You seem to wish that we didn't even exist!!

    • Ps 22:7 All who see me mock at me, they make mouths at me, they wag their heads;

  • ~ Well, this was the chapter prophesying of the way they would treat Jesus (dogs are round about me, chapter).

  • ~ So I guess it's a good thing to know:

    • Lk 6:22 "Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man!
    Lk 6:23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.


    He who obeys a command will meet no harm


  • ~ If the Lord God of Hosts and His Christ counseled us "to offer an oil blessing"

  • ~ to any who were in Cobu, who need to be comforted,

  • ~ and then we're "excluded" because we chose to listen to God's counsel,

  • ~ by the very ones that God intended us to comfort and bless through this expression,

  • ~ then wouldn't YOU conclude that it was "on account of our ministry"

  • ~ that was extended to us by "the Son of man and the Lord God of Hosts!"

  • ~ Oh, and thank you for the blessing!! As the scripture did promise us blessings when excluded,

  • ~ as you did when we got your: NO LONGER A MEMBER, message, when you cut us out of YOUR group!

  • ~ YOU Mike as the "owner" and "moderator" of YOUR very own xCobu Yahoo CLUB,

  • ~ that we thought was supposedly "FOR" those of us who used to be in Cobu!

  • ~ Oh, sorry, our mistake, we didn't realize,

  • ~ that "moderators of websites" have the right to "question" "Vet" and "exclude"

  • ~ Christian's who used to be in Cobu and decided to pray together!

  • ~ Please know that we pray for you:


    •
    Lk 6:28 ...bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
    Rm 12:14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
    Ecc 8:5 He who obeys a command will meet no harm,
    Jas 3:9-11 With it (the tongue) we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brethren, this ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening fresh water and brackish?
    Pro 25:26 Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.


    They listen to slander, but have no interest in inquiring from those being abused


  • ~ To this day, neither you, nor any of those on your site, nor those on Cobu Survivors, nor anyone from the other XCobu sites,

  • ~ have ever taken a moment of their time to inquire from us,

  • ~ ya know, we who were being: slandered, abused, and lied about on YOUR watch,

  • ~ in YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB,

  • ~ who Chris Blaise enjoyed venting about!

  • ~ At that time my husband wasn't even a member of your site, although Tod Burros was.

  • ~ If anyone was "bitter water" it was Chris Blaise, as he has shown what he is about ,

  • ~ and has been removed from other sites for his oppressive behaviors.

    •

    For 18 years, (1988-2006) they ask you to visit and pray with them, yet still return to "what mattered in Cobu"


  • ~ For many years my husband, son and I used much of our time off from work, and vacation time to visit Chris Blaise and his family, at their request,

  • ~ and prayed for them in their distress and sought to and did bring more peace to them, than they had prior to our visits,

  • ~ or lengthy telephone conversations, as Debbie Blaise often testified to, at least to us.

  • ~ In the case of Chris Blaise we truly learned the proverb: "No good deed goes unpunished."

  • ~ In the last week of January 2006, Chris called Dave, swearing with foul, four letter words,

  • ~ saying that he "no longer wanted to continue to fellowship" with us, but that he wanted to go in another direction.

  • ~ Dave said to him, "Chris, if God is leading you in another direction, than do what the Lord is showing you to do:

  • ~ with all your heart, and all your mind, and all your strength, and I give you my blessing."

  • ~ This is the way my husband spoke to Mr. Christopher Scott Blaise.

  • ~ A month later, on March 6, 2006, Chris had his near fatal vehicle accident.

  • ~ It is my belief that much of the negative impressions that you have accepted about who we are and what Living Water is about,

  • ~ was greatly influenced by what you heard, received and believed from Chris.

  • ~ A man who suffered a considerable amount of physical loss after his accident.


    • Whether you like me being the moderator or not or the owner of this list or not, I am for now and I believe that I am responsible to our Father to tend this list for the good of the brethren here. Having said this, you will now understand why I am concerned by some of the things Tod has said and not said here. I have been bothered by LW as it has been presented by Tod and sometimes by Dave.

  • ~ It would have been more helpful if you actually shared what bothered you specifically.

  • ~ This vague, non-explanation of "things" that "bother YOU" can neither be understood nor replied to.

  • ~ What "things?"

  • ~ We reply to YOUR "supposed interest" in our ministry by telling YOU that we have a Prayer Ministry,

  • ~ Jan told YOU and those in YOUR club what blessed her when she prayed with us through the years,

  • ~ Tod expressed his own insights for 7 years on YOUR site and

  • ~ Dan asked, in response to your inquiry, if he could post his own LW experiences,

  • ~ and YOU say that YOU're BOTHERED!

  • ~ What's YOUR problem?

  • ~ So Mike, now you're not only going to ACCUSE my brother Tod and my husband Dave of "things" that you don't even address,

  • ~ but now your going to ACCUSE them of "THINGS THEY HAVEN'T EVEN SAID!!!???"

  • ~ This is a first for me!!

  • ~ YOU're all about judgment!

    •
  • ~ Why do you judge your brothers for "things" you haven't even addressed,

  • ~ and "things they haven't even said?"

  • ~ What about the "things" that YOU'VE SAID Mike?

  • ~ Pointing the finger at others!
  • ~ Accusing brothers with empty words, that have no substance, this is how you sound to me:
  • ~ "I'm POINTING OUT THINGS!!!!"
  • ~ "But I have no idea what these "things are" that "concern" and "bother me" but I'm just "bothered" by you!"
  • ~ "How dare you: answer my questions and explain clearly that you pray with people!"
  • ~ "And care that their hurts are addressed and bound up with oil and prayers!"
  • ~ "You just bother me!"
  • ~ Well, Mike, the same goes! You bother me too!!

    •
    Rm 14:4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Master is able to make him stand.
    Rm 14:13 Then let us no more pass judgment on one another, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.
    Mt 12:37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
    Mt 12:36 I tell you, on the day of judgment men will render account for every careless word they utter;


  • ~ Yet you Mike, try to judge by something none of us even said!?! This is nuts!!!

    • Isa 58:9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am. "If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
    Rm 3:4 By no means! Let God be true though every man be false, as it is written, "That thou mayest be justified in thy words, and prevail when thou art judged."
    Rm 14:22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God; happy is he who has no reason to judge himself for what he approves.


  • ~ You see Mike, the scripture counsels that "it's okay for a man to keep his faith between himself and God!"

  • ~ It's perfectly fine and acceptable to God: that a man NOT have to EXPLAIN to YOU or ANYONE ELSE about his faith.

  • ~ The sad thing is, that Dave and I actually thought YOU were genuine, when YOU said that YOU and those in YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB:

  • ~ had questions and wanted to know about our ministry!

    •
  • ~ Maybe we would have been better off if we ignored your repeated requests?

    •
  • ~ That's not who we are though!

  • ~ Yet YOU would have probably found some other reason to reject us, since that is what YOU continue to do!

  • ~ YOUR continued harassment on Cobu Stories leaves us quite perplexed.

  • ~ We asked YOU to read our response to YOUR post, this letter, that YOU made to us in YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB.

  • ~ The day that YOU canceled memberships of the 4 xboo's, who had an LW blessing to share with YOU, and did share our blessings!

  • ~ To read "Our Statement of Faith => The Oil Blessing" (Click here).

  • ~ To read "Jan Hilton's => Story of Freedom" (Click here).


  • ~ I heard that you hadn't even read Tod's reply to YOUR post for over 2 years!

  • ~ To read Tod's reply to Mike (Click here).

  • ~ YOU ignore those who've responded to YOUR letter, that YOU posted to us, on YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB site!

  • ~ Have YOU even read Dave's Response to YOUR post? To read Dave's reply to Mike (Click here).

  • ~ Or Dan's Response to YOUR post? To read Dan's reply to Mike (Click here).

    •
  • ~ Hey, you may not be reading mine either!

  • ~ Again, the double standard: you demand answers to questions that YOU've never asked, and YOU cut off memberships:

  • ~ because we responded to YOUR inquiry that YOU and those in YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB had questions about our ministry!"

  • ~ Yet currently, your very busy writing long opinions about why xCobu brothers and sisters shouldn't meet together and pray for each other!!

  • ~ Yet we have a heart for one another, as we understand what each of us has gone through,

  • ~ and we, of all people, should and do care to pray for each other,

  • ~ and the Lord our God has heard and answered our prayers!
  • ~ Your advice makes no sense.

    •
  • ~ And, on top of all of this, YOU and YOUR supporters go on and on and on,
  • ~ as though YOU have some case against us on COBU stories:
  • ~ demanding attention,
  • ~ demanding apologies,
  • ~ demanding that we DO something for YOU
  • ~ when YOU are not in fellowship with us,
  • ~ and YOU have not acted honorably toward US
  • ~ as is clear through the things already stated.

    • There are some truths that need to be stated here before I continue. I am a christian. Herman Weiss is a Christian. Nancy Coogan is a Christian.Tod Burros is a Christian. Dave Simmons is a Christian. Steve Saxton is a Christian. Bob San Pascual is a Christian. Dee Dee Rose is a Christian, Dee Jones is a Christian. Chris Blaise is a Christian. Barbara Caban is a Christian. If I didn't name you forgive me. The Lord knows you. Your name is written in heaven. There is a majority of christians here, who walk in the light as He is in the light, and so we have fellowship with one another. I am not questioning what the Lord Jesus has begun in the ones I have mentioned.

  • ~ Do my eyes deceive me?

  • ~ Did you not say here Mike: that YOU are NOT questioning what the Lord Jesus has begun in the ones mentioned here?

  • ~ Yet have you not clearly included Tod Burros and Dave Simmons!?

  • ~ This entire letter from YOU is loaded with questions, doubts and accusations of the ministry that the Lord God began in us!

  • ~ You say: "I'm not questioning" while at the same exact time "YOU question US!!"

  • ~ You seem to have a difficult time not contradicting yourself even within the same letter!

  • ~ Vet away, oh twisted one!


  • ~ At one point on your xCobu Yahoo CLUB, around the time that Chris was making a lot of his slanderous posts,

  • ~ Nancy C wrote: (I) "don't like hearing how they (LW) have been toward CB & family" ...

  • ~ and I had to shake my head ~ What is she talking about!?

  • ~ How WE were being toward Chris Blaise and his family!?

  • ~ All we had done was reply "Not Guilty" to all of Chris's bogus claims!
  • ~ We spent almost 20 years of our lives praying with Chris and Debbie Blaise,
  • ~ about all the hurts they incurred at the church of our youth,
  • ~ but each time: WE had been called BY THEM to come to THEIR NEED!
  • ~ Yet they never seemed to have changed from the previous visit!
  • ~ It reminded me of when someone would go to church, and get "all lifted up"
  • ~ only to forget all about what lifted them up, after the service!
  • ~ It can happen, so we would be on hand for late night and early into the morning phone calls,
  • ~ we would even return their calls to cover all the long distance expenses,
  • ~ even on nights before we had to get up for work the next day,
  • ~ or they would ask us: if we could make just one more visit to their home to pray with them,

  • ~ as Chris had even said: that we visited them at least four times a year for many years,

  • ~ because, he said: "our visits helped his wife!"

  • ~ Yet I noticed that he and his children were also thankful for our visits,
  • ~ as we sought God to bring peace where there had been stress,
  • ~ and the peace of God did lift up their household, "because" we went and prayed with them!

  • Which wasn't easy to do, when:
  • ~ you work full time as a teacher,
  • ~ have to prepare lesson plans after work hours,
  • ~ are also running a business,
  • ~ have a son in school with homework obligations, and
  • ~ are praying with others locally on a regular basis!

  • ~ In fact, we neglected the visiting of our own very large families,

  • ~ while we were attending to the requests made of us by the Blaise's!

  • ~ I have 12 siblings and 28 nieces and nephews, some with babies of thier own!

  • ~ Dave has 7 siblings, with plenty of nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles,

  • ~ who live in North Carolina and didn't have the pleasure of his time and attention,

  • ~ while we expended our time, hearts, prayers, and coin in the 4 hour trip to and from the Blaise family home,

  • ~ paying for gas, tolls, hotel, and "on the road" food expenses for ourselves and the Blaise's too!

  • ~ Yet Nancy's comment was written after Chris's accident,

  • ~ the year that I spent a week with Debbie and her daughters and made several more trips to PA that year!

  • ~ A sister called us late on Monday afternoon, March 6, 2006,

  • ~ telling us that Chris had been seriously injured in a vehicle accident,

  • ~ and asked us to pray for him and his family.

  • ~ I told the sister that Chris had expressed: "that he no longer wanted to fellowship with us"

  • ~ but that if Debbie wanted me to come to be with her, to let me know.

  • ~ Debbie called me that night and said, "Yes, please come."

  • ~ The first thing Dave and I did was to contact as many brothers and sisters we knew to start an immediate prayer chain for Chris and his family.

  • ~ One of the brothers we fellowship with said he would contact the 700 club to add their prayer support.
  • ~ Knowing that my son and husband would be without our only family vehicle,
  • ~ I did some basic food shopping to make sure they had everything they'd need while I was gone.
  • ~ I left my home in N.E. New Jersey Tuesday at 4 am driving to Reading PA to be with Debbie in this trial.
  • ~ A younger sister was part of a Christian radio broadcasting from a fellowship house only blocks from the Reading hospital.
  • ~ She had offered to let Debbie and her daughters stay with her.
  • ~ The radio broadcast was very loud throughout the house and Debbie said that she couldn't sleep there.
  • ~ So Katy and I went there to pick up all of their things and I found a hotel room for us near the hospital.

  • ~ I remained with Debbie, her children, and her in-laws: Chris's parents, from early Tuesday, March 7th through late Sunday night March 12th,

  • ~ seeking God inwardly and extending any peace and strength that I could muster,
  • ~ Praying at Chris' bedside as he lay unconscious in the ICU at Reading Hospital,
  • ~ keeping a careful eye on his blood pressure that kept going critically too low,
  • ~ Debbie, Katy, and later Miranda, and I would pray fervently that his blood pressure would rise.
  • ~ Lifting up thanks to God, each and every time he answered our heartfelt prayers.
  • ~ Continuing our changing of cool, damp wash cloths on his head, when he had fever.
  • ~ Using the lip moistening stick, as his lips would be dry and chafe.
  • ~ Obtaining a hotel room so they could rest in between lengthy visits,
  • ~ yet only staying there for a few short hours at a time.
  • ~ Finding out that my snoring is atrocious, I offered to get Debbie her own room,
  • ~ yet she said no, that she needed me to be nearby,
  • ~ as I held her and prayed inwardly, and sometimes out loud, each and every time she would break down.
  • ~ So, I found some anti-snoring products at the pharmacy, hoping that would help!
  • ~ I made food runs to sustain Debbie, Katy, and Miranda,
  • ~ obtaining supplies and other necessary items at the local stores and pharmacy,
  • ~ that we needed while away from our homes,
  • ~ I ran interference between Debbie and the many visitors to the hospital, at her request.
  • ~ Hearing that many parked a distance from the hospital I began to taxi, in my van,
  • ~ many from the nearest garage to Chris's room, to their personal vehicles,
  • ~ assisting not only Debbie's visiting family members,
  • ~ but also many of the xCobu brothers and sisters who came to see Chris and offer Debbie their support.

  • ~ I fasted and prayed during Chris's spinal surgery in the waiting room with Debbie and her in-laws.

  • ~ Chris's spinal doctor actually thanked me for my prayers, saying that it was a most difficult surgery.

  • ~ I made Debbie aware that the vehicle owners, from Chris's job, that caused the accident,
  • ~ were hovering and questioning if Chris had "a visual seat belt mark" on his chest!
  • ~ I kept up the moral of Debbie and all of her children with embraces and prayers,
  • ~ in their tears and fears, that long week while Chris lay unconscious.

  • ~ Tod and Dave joined me later in the week, also obtaining hotel rooms,
  • ~ so I left Debbie and her daughters so they could get some much needed sleep.
  • ~ Tod and Dave joined me in offering their own strength, embraces, and heartfelt prayers,
  • ~ in the waiting room, the hospital chapel, and at Chris's bedside.
  • ~ On and off for days, with Debbie and all of her visiting children, and others who stopped in briefly.

  • ~ Most of those who visited, it was "just a day trip" a "run in and run out"
  • ~ yet, like me, Dave and Tod stayed by the families side the entire weekend long,
  • ~ from Friday until late Sunday night.
  • ~ The doctors said that it was critical that Chris come out of his unconscious state, or that he might not.
  • ~ He had been unconscious from Monday, March 6th through Saturday the 11th.
  • ~ So Dave and I, who've been blessed with a healing gift, prayed fervently,
  • ~ as we summoned all of our faith in God, as we stood together praying over Chris, that Saturday.

  • ~ Oh how thankful we were to witness: as God answered our own prayers on his behalf,

  • ~ as he finally came out of his unconscious state!

  • ~ We heard him utter his very first garbled sounds, as he came back to us!

  • ~ So we called in the medical staff, who tended to him immediately.

  • ~ We cried with relief as we shared this great news with Debbie, her children, Chris's parents,

  • ~ and others who happened to visit and those we had grown close to, with family in the ICU

  • ~ As it happens after extending my faith in a deeply spiritual moment, I felt utterly spent,

  • ~ so I went to the chapel to collect myself for a little while.
  • ~ I was so very deeply thankful, that God answered all of our prayers,
  • ~ that Chris had finally come back to us after so many days and hours,
  • ~ all I could do was weep, hug my dear husband and thank Jesus and our heavenly father.

  • ~ Tod, Dave and I covered Debbie's entire hotel expense from the day I arrived until Chris was moved from Reading back to York March 16th.

  • ~ Tod bearing the lions share due to a mix up at the hotel about which credit card to apply which days to.

  • ~ Dave, Tod, and I made a couple of trips to Health South Rehab in York while Chris continued to recover.

  • ~ I sought to help Debbie in any way that I could,

  • ~ even assisting her in the treatment of Chris's sores, after he returned home!

  • ~ Dave & I purchased several costly washable bed pads and a case of disposables, that Debbie said were greatly appreciated.

  • ~ I assisted in house cleaning, laundry, dishes, looking to extend help in any way that I could.
  • ~ Debbie shared with me that one of the obligations of Chris's care she felt unable to even do,
  • ~ until after I prayed with her about it and she expressed her sincere thankfulness to me,
  • ~ about my answered prayer on their behalf, with regard to a very difficult task.

  • ~ I took the entire Blaise family out to dinner on Father's day June 2006,

  • ~ Chris's 1st "going out to eat event" after leaving the rehab and covered the entire cost!

  • ~ Including: Chris, Debbie, Kirby, Charity, Alexandra, Tyler, Miranda, Katy, Christopher, and myself.

  • ~ I attended the Blaise girls' ballet recital.

  • ~ I alone assisted Alexandra in assembling, addressing, and sending out all of her wedding invitations,

  • ~ as this was one chore that kept getting put off.

  • ~ I made another trip to York PA to gift and attend Alexandra's bridal shower.

  • ~ Debbie gave me a 'Willow Tree' "Thank You" angel ornament,

  • ~ and a 'Willow Tree' "Happiness" angel with outstretched arms with blue birds on them,

  • ~ she said, "Because this is what you've given to me and to all of us: Happiness."

  • ~ she said that the support I extended to her during their crisis, was like Chris would be for her.

  • ~ Alexandra, Tyler, and I loaded all of her gifts into my van from her shower at Charity & Kirby's home,

  • ~ transporting and making several trips inside with Alex & Tyler carrying them all into her apartment.

  • ~ before making the long four hour drive on my own once again, from York PA back home to New Jersey.

  • ~ Tod, Dave and I made another trip to York for the July 2006 xCobu Reunion,
  • ~ to celebrate Chris surviving his accident.
  • ~ We followed Chris & Debbie to the Reunion venue,
  • ~ when Debbie unclipped Chris' wheelchair, I stood near the steep ramp,
  • ~ had I not been there his chair could have easily tipped because it was so steep,
  • ~ so I made Debbie aware of this, to keep this from ever actually happening.
  • ~ which was before they obtained the wheelchair lift that was much safer.

  • ~ As soon as Chris was out of their van, an older brother had run up from the pavilion,

  • ~ and he quickly whisked Chris away, without even saying hello!

  • ~ Before the Reunion I helped Kirby & Charity: clean and repair a large wooden rolling lounge chair,
  • ~ that was quite difficult to fit with all the heavy cushions into their van,
  • ~ but being a nurse and a physical therapist they knew it would help Chris,
  • ~ to keep the pressure off of his considerable sized pressure wound, at the long Reunion,

    •
  • ~ but each time I asked if they wanted to use the lounge chair Debbie turned her back to me!

  • ~ Chris and Debbie and several of their old Cobu friends gave Dave, Tod and I a cold shoulder at the Reunion, which was unexpected.

  • ~ Tod sat next to Chris, while Chris spoke to everyone else around him except for Tod!

  • ~ Even after Tod made several attempts to engage him in a conversation!!

  • ~ There's a photo of them at this reunion on your xCobu Web page Mike,

  • ~ where Tod was visibly bothered by Chris's shunning of him.

  • ~ Tod made a considerable monetary contribution,

  • ~ to the pot that was passed around at this Reunion to benefit Chris and his family.

  • ~ Tod had also gone out of his way to visit Chris many times throughout the years, yet Chris snubbed him!

  • ~ A brother Dave had given a substantial wood floor sanding job referral to: thanked him,

  • ~ then mid-sentence, as though he'd been queued, he suddenly took off and left Dave standing there!

  • ~ A sister, seeing my smile, greeted me warmly, only to scurry away on hearing my name!

  • ~ I sat at the picnic table with Debbie, only to have a sister "squeeze between us"

  • ~although there was no one else sitting at our table, and plenty of other spots to sit in!

  • ~ This behavior seemed very strange to me, so I just got up and stood to the side.

  • ~ Then Chris and Debbie spoke to this large gathering of xCobu brothers and sisters.

  • ~ They offered their thanks by name to those who stopped by the hospital briefly during their trial.

  • ~ They offered thanks by name to the sister who lived only a few blocks from the hospital,

  • ~ and offered her home, although Debbie didn't stay there,
  • ~ and although the closest to the hospital she didn't visit once during that entire week,
  • ~ to extend herself or see if there was any need: whether physical, emotional, or spiritual!
  • ~ The rest of her family, who also lived nearby in Reading, also didn't stop by the hospital once during this trial,
  • ~ to see if they could get anything or do anything to assist Debbie and her family.
  • ~ This was the brother who had whisked Chris away without speaking,
  • ~ and his wife who chose to squeeze in between Debbie and I at the reunion picnic table,
  • ~ although there were many other places to sit at that table, as we were the only ones at it!

    •
  • ~ Chris and Debbie, in front of this large gathering of xCobu brethren, did not thank me at all.

  • ~ Chris and Debbie did not publicly thank my husband Dave for extending my help to them the entire week.

  • ~ When I left him and our son on their own at home in NJ so I could stand with Debbie and her children.

  • ~ Chris and Debbie did not publicly thank Dave and I for our prayers of faith.

  • ~ Prayers that were instrumental in Chris recovering from his unconscious state.

    •
  • ~ Chris and Debbie publicly thanked people by name who stopped by the hospital for an hour.

  • ~ Yet they did not publicly thank me, who stood with Debbie, Chris, and all of their family 24/7 throughout their entire ordeal!

  • ~ Chris and Debbie did not publicly thank Tod, who drove from PA to NJ to pick up Dave.

  • ~ Who both went to PA to Reading Hospital and offered their great strength through that entire weekend.

  • ~ Chris and Debbie did not publicly thank Tod, nor Dave and I, for covering their entire hotel cost for Debbie and her daughters stay in Reading,

  • ~ that we extended from Tuesday, March 7th, past Sunday the 12th, when we left Reading,

  • ~ extending the hotel coverage until Chris was transferred back to York PA, March 16th,

  • ~ when Debbie and her daughters could finally return to their home after that long week.

  • ~ 10 full nights, that were not discounted, as the hotel was obtained at the last minute and needed to be very close to the hospital.

  • ~ Dave, Tod, and I had also traveled to visit Chris during his two month stay at the Health South Rehab in York, PA,

  • ~ but I guess this also meant nothing to them, as we weren't addressed at all.

  • ~ Chris and Debbie Blaise chose not to publicly thank at this xCobu gathering: myself, my husband Dave, nor Tod Burros.

  • ~ Several times during this Reunion we noticed being unwelcomed, it reminded me of being shunned in Cobu, or avoided like we had the plague.

    •
  • ~ Quite a strange way to treat those who: at Debbie's request had just walked with them through each hour of their most difficult trial!

  • ~ Quite a strange way to treat those whose healing prayers were instrumental in Chris's re-consciousness!

    •
  • ~ Yet Debbie finally sought me out and asked me if we would come to their home after the reunion,

  • ~ which surprised me since we had been avoided all day and I had to ask, "Are you sure?"

    •
  • ~ Dave came to me and told me that Debbie asked him the same thing, and he had reacted the same way, also asking her, "Are you sure?"

    •
  • ~ Debbie also asked Tod to come to their home afterward, curious after Chris had snubbed him at the picnic table, he too asked her, "Are you sure"

  • ~ Their purpose became more obvious, as they continued their open rejection of us at their home!

    •
  • ~ I was asked to bring water to Chris, Dave and Joann R, only to have him slight me in front of his guests.

  • ~ When I asked him how he was feeling, he held up his hand toward my face and said, "Not now sister!"

    •
  • ~ As though he didn't even know my name, I had been dismissed and so I left the room.

  • ~ Everyone who was there were asked to join for prayer in their bedroom,

  • ~ as Chris prayed for everyone in the room by name except for Dave, Tod and I!

  • ~ Then Chris cut off a prophesy begun by Tod, lifting up his voice and loudly proclaiming:

  • ~ "Let not this approach prevail!"

  • ~ Later, Debbie shared with Dave and I, that she and Chris had agreed:

  • ~ not to allow any of us from LW to prophesy in their home, meaning Dave, Tod or I.

  • ~ As Debbie had a prophesy that night where God counseled "to show hospitality" which was received in peace.

  • ~ I told her, that it would have been nice if she would have included us in that agreement,

  • ~ or had not even invited us to come at all since they obviously rejected us.

  • ~ Debbie also told us at a later date that if one of her prophesy's were loudly protested against,

  • ~ as Tod experienced from Chris the night that we were "invited" only to be "rejected"

  • ~ Debbie said that she would have "run from the room screaming"

  • ~ from her comment, we concluded that Chris's behavior was intended to provoke a reaction from us,

  • ~ and although we all realized Chris's behavior was intentionally offensive, we each maintained our peace,

  • ~ yet it was clear that this "cut down" or "open rejection" was planned and executed by all those involved.

    •
  • ~ And YOU question OUR conduct Mike!

    •
  • ~ What do YOU think about the conduct that we were subjected to that day?

  • ~ What do YOU think about the subsequent treatment of us, since then,

  • ~ that has spiraled as a rippling effect, continuing from the way that we were treated that day?

  • ~ What about the way that many of YOU have joined in with them in the judgment of US,

  • ~ a judgment without cause and based on a false witness against us,

  • ~ from you who we've never done nor said anything against!?

  • ~ If YOU were at this reunion, did YOU participate in the shunning of us, at their request?

  • ~ If YOU went to a later reunion, did YOU participate in the shunning of us then?

    •
  • ~ Another question that comes to mind:

    •
  • ~ What happened between: Alexandra's bridal shower

  • ~ when Debbie warmly gave me two 'Willow Tree' angel mementos,

  • ~ expressing her thankfulness to me and saying that "I gave her family Happiness"

  • ~ AND the xCobu Reunion, that were both in July,

  • ~ that caused Chris and Debbie to shun us and treat us coldly in front of all those at this Reunion?

    •
  • ~ Absolutely nothing!

  • ~ Another thing to consider:

  • ~ What caused them to make the agreement together to invite us to their home after the Reunion,

  • ~ BUT NOT to permit us to use our gift of prophesy during prayer with them,

  • ~ even though for years they expressed their thankfulness to us,

  • ~ for the peace that our ministry and our prophetic gifts brought to them for 18 years!?

  • ~ For isn't it strange to consider that it was my presence that Debbie preferred during her darkest hour,

  • ~ when Chris's life hung in the balance and she didn't know whether or not he would survive?

    •
  • ~ Oh, but let's shun them!

  • ~ Let's prevent the gift of God in them!

  • ~ Let's turn our back to them!

  • ~ Let's snub them!

  • ~ Let's openly slight those who did everything in their power to bless us!

  • ~ Let's be two faced and insincere and provoke those who embraced and comforted us!

  • ~ We had no meeting with them nor any telephone calls between these two dates,

  • ~ the date of Alexandra's bridal shower and the date of the xCobu Reunion,

  • ~ that both happened in the month of July 2006!

    •
  • ~ So, my question is, if they had a change of heart after Alexandra's bridal shower and before the xCobu Reunion,

  • ~ would it not have been proper Christian etiquette to disclose to us their change of heart prior to this gathering?

    •
  • ~ Yet they chose instead to treat us as though we had no close ties.

  • ~ They chose to be cold to us in front of all their xCobu friends.

  • ~ The fact that they didn't even have the decency to say the two words:

  • ~ "Thank you" and our names,

  • ~ that would have been a balm to us at this xCobu reunion,

  • ~ and an appropriate expression to us,

  • ~ considering all the investments of: our strength, our heart, our time, our funds, and travel during 2006,

  • ~ to be there for their benefit, for their comfort, and for their personal support.

  • ~ Yet, not only did they NOT thank us, but they turned their backs to us, and openly snubbed us!

  • ~ What they did was cold and left me speechless.

  • ~ I have been the sole secretary to an accountant since 1980
  • ~ and later became the head receptionist for one of our biggest clients,
  • ~ who we had office space with from 1987 and I am still employed by now in 2014,
  • ~ a law firm with four floors of attorneys and staff on Wall Street NY City,
  • ~ and I have had the respect and appreciation:
  • ~ of every Partner, Associate, Office Manager, Secretary, office services staff,
  • ~ and even the building security and maintenance crew greet me by name each and every single day,
  • ~ who all have different religions and some who practice no religion at all!

    •
  • ~ But I have NEVER been treated with the degree of blatant condescension and cold hearted bigotry,

  • ~ that I suffered from Chris and Debbie Blaise at that 2006 xCobu Reunion!

  • ~ and the subsequent follow-up slanderous comments,

  • ~ that Chris Blaise smeared us with on YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB site,

  • ~ because he said "that God was leading him in another direction!"

  • ~ I question the God that Mr. Blaise calls upon,

  • ~ as what we experienced from them didn't even bear the vaguest reflection of even common courtesy!

  • ~ I've known street kids with no religious affiliate to be more pleasant and polite,

  • ~ than these "so-called pillars" of your xCobu community.


  • ~ Since then I've had to thank God for opening my eyes,

  • ~ and freeing me from any further dealings or obligations to ones who could be so cold and shallow.

    •
  • ~ Debbie had shared later that Chris's main complaint was that LW doesn't "go witnessing."

  • ~ Yet we believe that our actions have always born our witness.

  • ~ Just as their actions towards us and others who've come under their attacks, bore their witness also!

  • ~ Though Chris can disregard all of the service that we extended to him and his family for years,

  • ~ and justify the slandering of our characters to all of YOU!

  • ~ This is his witness!

  • ~ This is the witness of EACH of YOU who've joined in the slander of my husband!

  • ~ This is the witness of EACH of YOU who've joined in the slander of my fellowship: Living Water!

  • ~ This is the witness of EACH of YOU who've joined in the slander of my faithful brother Tod Burros!

  • ~ And what of YOUR own witness Michael, in the way that YOU provoke, accuse, condemn and irritate,

  • ~ a brother who's done nothing but share: Our Statement of Faith with YOU and YOUR website,

  • ~ at YOUR request, no less!

  • ~ Interesting to note, that as we headed toward PA from New Jersey for this Reunion,

  • ~ we spoke of our desires to pray for Chris's complete physical healing,

  • ~ as we prayed that we would have the faith to lift him up for this to occur!

  • ~ That was where our hearts and minds were at on our way to this event.

  • ~ It was hard to take, what we experienced that day,

  • ~ from those we extended years of our personal devotion to their spiritual up-building.

  • ~ As we extended our precious time off of work, from May 1988 through August 2006,

  • ~ to the Blaise family, before our son was even born: August 1989,

  • ~ putting their needs before even the visiting of our own families or taking mini vacations of our own.

  • ~ Not to mention all of the heartfelt devotion extended to Debbie and her children after Chris' accident!

  • ~ Yet, for the most part, it was our pleasure to extend ourselves to those who called us,

  • ~ in the hopes of lifting their hearts, removing some hurt,

  • ~ and our greatest goal: to please the Lord our God in the comfort of his people,

  • ~ which was always our primary concern.

  • ~ Had Chris not survived this horrific event, I wonder who it would have been to stand by Debbie and her children!?

  • ~ Had Chris not survived this horrific event, would it have been YOU to stand with them in their great need!?

  • ~ Had Chris not survived this horrific event, wouldn't it have been WE who did stand by them during this entire trial!?

    •
  • ~ Just walking through that day and witnessing the way that Chris and Debbie went out of their way to purposefully:

  • ~ reject, snub, humiliate, and exclude Dave, Tod and I

  • ~ only to include us, for the purpose of being unkind, to we:

  • ~ who never did them any wrong ever,

  • ~ and extended our time, strength, and healing prayers for their benefit,

  • ~ was unbelievably cruel, hurtful and unChristian.

  • ~ The fact that they also got others, who we never did one thing against either,

  • ~ to join them in their rejection, humiliation, exclusion and snobbery,

  • ~ was also something that not even the unsaved would ever do,

  • ~ to those who stood by them in as deep a way as we had.

  • ~ Their behavior toward us was cruel and heartless.

  • ~ The fact that Chris continued his blatant verbal bashing of our character, our fellowship, and our family,

  • ~ in YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB, Michael James Montoya, born of the spirit!

  • ~ when we had no freedom to present our experience to YOU:

  • ~ who had no interest in even hearing our perspective,

  • ~ and who had already judged, convicted, and hung us out to dry,

  • ~ as when Nancy C wrote:

  • ~ "but right like Kevin said, too bad we can't get to a place of neutrality

  • ~ and just agree NOT to talk about LW."

  • ~ after she had just written about Tod that:

  • ~ "he didn't say anything about it (LW) for a long while."

  • ~ was a most difficult walk to experience!

  • ~ If you doubt my word, log into Mike's xCobu Yahoo site and do a search for "LW" and "Dave Simmons"

  • ~ and you can read all the lovely expressions that were posted there,

  • ~ unless he's deleted them, as he's been known to do!

  • ~ Test and see ~ it's quite enlightening,

  • ~ especially considering that we had been requested by the Blaise's to visit and pray with them!

  • ~ And here's another observation I'd like all of YOU "good Christian's" to consider:

    •
  • ~ Isn't it sad that you "think" that you are being "welcoming" to a brother, who chats on your list,

  • ~ when you're not even open to hear about what blesses him,

  • ~ nor are you even willing to let him speak about his fellowship,

  • ~ or what matters to him, as YOU treated Tod!?

    •
  • ~ as YOU Mike and Nancy C

  • ~ expect others not to share what blesses them on YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB site!

  • ~ And YOU claim that YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB site is a place where as YOU wrote above:

    •  [ "discussions ranging from politics to church doctrine to our time under ST all could be hashed out here,

    and that our Lord would be pleased by our love for one another" ]

  • ~ but God forbid that YOU would be open to let Tod speak about what's blessed his life!

  • ~ What hypocrites! Vet away!

  • ~ Facing Chris and Debbie's choice to reject us, after all the years we prayed for their entire family,

  • ~ and especially my own personal devotion to them for the whole week of Chris's accident

  • ~ and the many trips I made back and forth from NJ to York in just 2006 alone,

  • ~ yet having to face their cruel and unprovoked rejection of we who always stood by them,

  • ~ knowing that we were no longer welcome by them,

  • ~ I cried out to the Lord my God and said to he who always hears me,

  • ~ "My name is bitter, comfort me oh Lord my God!" Which he has done!

  • ~ As he always answers our prayers!

  • ~ The true test of whether or not someones ministry is "of God!"

    •
  • ~ To read on YOUR website, as those who knew nothing of the events we walked through,

  • ~ as you joined the bandwagon of the judgment against us!

    •
  • ~ Consider how you would feel, if YOU extended YOURself and YOUR family:

  • ~ to bless a man, his wife, his friends, and each of their seven children and their friends for many years,

  • ~ and then were dismissed?

  • ~ Only to read on YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUBsite:

  • ~ as when Nancy C wrote: "(I) don't like hearing how they have been toward CB and family,"

  • ~ was deeply disturbing!

  • ~ Especially since all we did was seek God to lift up the Blaise family,

  • ~ with regard to their stresses after leaving Cobu, financial stresses, illnesses,

  • ~ numerous personal concerns, sometimes on a daily basis from 1988 through many years,

  • ~ and in the middle of the most difficult moment of their lives, while Chris hovered near deaths door,

  • ~ only to be shunned by them at the 2006 reunion and at subsequent xCobu reunions,

  • ~ by "brothers and sisters" who bought all of Chris's negative testimony against us!

  • ~ While knowing that no one had the least interest in discussing any of it with us,

  • ~ nor was anyone even willing to even hear our perspectives at all,

  • ~ nor that what was being spewed out,

  • ~ were the words of someone who had just suffered a most devastating and life-altering event,

  • ~ and who it was not in our interest to cause him any further distress.

  • ~ So the Lord our God counseled us to only reply: NOT GUILTY!

  • ~ to all the false and bogus charges, leveled against us, which we did!

    •
  • ~ It would have been very nice if Debbie Blaise herself, could have come to our defense,

  • ~ in the public persecution that we were experiencing,

  • ~ since she, more than anyone else, knew who and what we had been to them,

  • ~ for years and especially during this trial!!

  • ~ Many times Debbie even admitted to me that:

  • ~ Dave and I helped her personally and their family, more than anyone else had!

  • ~ Yet, unfortunately, we also had to hear that,

  • ~ she: not only DIDN'T CORRECT the oppression and the false testimony that came our way,

  • ~ But SHE herself had actively CONTRIBUTED to it and ENCOURAGED it!!

  • ~ According to several of those we spoke to, who visited their home after the 2006 xCobu Reunion!!

  • ~ Back at our hotel room, after the prayer meeting at the Blaise house,

  • ~ the day of the 2006 xCobu Reunion, celebrating Chris surviving his accident,

  • ~ Dave, Tod and I looked at each other as if to say,

    •
  • ~ "Where did all the hostility against us come from?"

  • ~ On our trip to this Reunion weren't we talking about praying for Chris's full physical recovery!?

  • ~ Yet the Lord our God spoke tenderly to us prophetically and said that we needed:

  • ~ to see for ourselves "where they were really at" toward us.

  • ~ He said, "Although you always strove to have the attitude to:

    • Rm 13:8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another.

  • ~ He counseled us, that due to THEIR open rejection of us that a new scripture applied:

    • Mt 10:14 And if any one will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town.


  • ~ Their rejection of us personally was quite clear, was very intentional and admitted to.


  • ~ Chris ended up in the hospital the week between the Reunion and Alexandra's wedding,

  • ~ due to the stress he put on his pressure sore at the Reunion,

  • ~ since neither he nor Debbie wanted Kirby and I to get the wooden lounge chair,

  • ~ that would have granted him some relief.

    •
  • ~ At home, although troubled by the way that we had been treated,

  • ~ I continued the project I had previously begun and had promised to Alexandra,

  • ~ as I hand made 200 pink satin stuffed hearts (sewing, trimming, flipping, stuffing, sealing):

  • ~ with printed ribbons with their names & wedding date, seed pearl rose ribbons and tulle wrapped almonds.

  • ~ The wedding favors that I handmade completely filled 2 bank boxes,

  • ~ that I gift wrapped with floral wedding paper and mailed in time for Alexandra's wedding set for August 6th.

  • ~ Remembering how Chris and Debbie had not offered one word of thanks to me publicly at the 2006 xCobu Reunion,

  • ~ after I stood with them throughout their entire trial,

  • ~ I wondered if this expression of my labor of love and affection would also be unreguarded!

  • ~ In my heart I looked forward to hearing directly from Alexandra, who I addressed the boxes to,

  • ~ especially after the way Chris and Debbie treated Dave, Tod and I at the Reunion and their home.

  • ~ Yet, Debbie opened the boxes herself, called and said they were beautiful and offered her thanks to me over the phone.

  • ~ Would that she could have been as grateful to me before all of her xCobu friends,

  • ~ but I guess that was expecting "too much"

  • ~ especially after they agreed together with their friends, to shun we who had always sought to bless them!

  • ~ I told her I was glad the boxes got there okay and thanked her for calling to let me know.

    •
  • ~ At Alexandra's wedding reception, I listened as Chris corrected his son Isaac,

  • ~ who introduced Dave and I as: "their good friends."

  • ~ Only to hear Chris tell Isaac: "that we weren't their friends"

  • ~ as Isaac looked on very confused.

  • ~ The way Chris said that reminded me of when Stewart Traill said to Rob M, "He's no friend of mine!"

  • ~ When Rob saw Stewart dress shopping with one of his very young female companions,

  • ~ the young daughter of one of the cobu couples.

  • ~ Yet Isaac accepted what his father said of us,

  • ~ and joined the others in keeping his distance from us for the rest of Alexandra's wedding reception.

  • ~ Interesting to note that he didn't question his father's negative words against us,

  • ~ even knowing how Dave and I had blessed him and everyone in his family for many years,

  • ~ especially at the hospital in Reading PA,

  • ~ as Isaac and I went on several "runs" to bring refreshments back for their family!

  • ~ A few of Chris and Debbie's children disregarded the false witness against us and embraced Dave and I,

  • ~ but we knew that we would be excluded from the lives of these children from then on,

  • ~ who we loved and who were part of our lives since they were babies,

  • ~ this is the result of a false witness.

  • ~ I recalled some of my memories over the years:

  • ~ I remembered the day that we prayed for Isaac, pouring the anointing oil over his head.

  • ~ Afterward, he looked at Dave and I beaming, and said,

  • ~ "I can finally forgive those who wronged me at the Cobu nursery!"

  • ~ As he shared with us several stories of being treated cruelly,

  • ~ especially by Joann F and her daughter, one story being especially memorable:

  • ~ When on one of the hottest days of the year, they refused him a sip of water at Bear mountain,

  • ~ when Joann F's daughter Raceen insisted:

  • ~ "that Isaac had already had a drink" when he hadn't and he was refused a sip of water!!

  • ~ Yet the abuse continued when they not only didn't give him a sip of water,

  • ~ but Joann F, in all of HER Christian charity,

  • ~ forced Isaac to sit squeezed between her and the front dash of the van,

  • ~ for the entire trip back to NY City from Bear Mountain NJ!

  • ~ Accused of lying while it was HER own daughter who bore FALSE WITNESS against little Isaac Blaise!!

  • ~ How many more of our little ones were abused and treated unkindly,

  • ~ by those who WERE DEEMED "Orange" and "walking in the light!!?"

  • ~ When they were really just pushy, nasty, and abusive, not only to us, but also to our little ones!

  • ~ Speaking of the word "pushy" little Charity, when she received the anointing with oil,

  • ~ lifted her head up from that prayer, also beaming at Dave and I,

  • ~ And she confessed to being given the freedom to forgive the "supposedly faithful" older sisters,

  • ~ who always called her: PUSHY!

  • ~ When she was just a little girl! As they made her feel like she was worthless!

  • ~ A little child who was just trying to navigate her life:

  • ~ without the comfort of her own mother,

  • ~ who couldn't take the abusive lifestyle of the Cobu cult, we endured,

  • ~ and left her own family, including her 3 little children!

  • ~ These abusive ones were considered "to be faithful"

  • ~ who Chris wanted to include to Charity and Kirby's wedding!

  • ~ Charity had the strength to tell her dad,

  • ~ "NO way!!!" "They're NOT coming to my wedding!" ~ Go Charity!!


  • ~ Now Charity's wedding was a most beautiful event, that Dave and I were so happy to attend!

  • ~ It was the day after Charity's wedding that we had a most uplifting prayer meeting,

  • ~ with a large group of xCobu brothers and sisters.

  • ~ Who all received a bit of oil on their foreheads and we had an inspired, joyful prayer meeting that day!

  • ~ Dave offered Chris to do this since it was in his home,

  • ~ and he was part of our ministry for 14 years, holding weekly LW prayer meetings,

  • ~ yet, at this gathering of many xCobu brethren he said that he didn't feel comfortable,

  • ~ so Chris handed it off to Tod, to extend an oil blessing,

  • ~ who on that occasion grew exponentially.

  • ~ Interesting to note that one of Chris' complaints against Dave was that,

  • ~ Dave "didn't extend a leadership position" to him,

  • ~ yet here it was Chris who didn't "step-up" to the opportunity to offer a blessing.

  • ~ Another note, we don't make any expectations of anyone to do anything, ever!

  • ~ Any prayer meetings were held by those who wanted to hold them,

  • ~ and it was something that they decided to do and not any expectation from any of us.

  • ~ Tod, who prior to that day in April 2002, only had a few prophetic words, once in awhile.

  • ~ Yet, as he actively offered a blessing to everyone in that room,

  • ~ his ability to prophesy increased that very day and,

  • ~ his gift continued to be used greatly from that day on!

  • ~ I believe there were at least six married couples and a few on their own there that day!

  • ~ When he saw an older sister, being spun around in a dance, and absolutely beaming with joy,

  • ~ one brother exclaimed, "I don't think I ever saw YOU even smile the entire time I knew you in Cobu!

  • ~ Another witness against Cobu, was that there was no joy, a fruit of the Holy Spirit of God.

  • ~ I even noticed that this sister and even her grandchild had looked downcast,

  • ~ at Charity's wedding the day before, and I mentioned it to my husband.

  • ~ Yet it was great to see her heart so lifted up with joy and hope that day!

  • ~ She was absolutely radiant with joy, eyes bright, as Dave spun her around in a dance,

  • ~ and she started to laugh, that day that we prayed with them at Chris and Debbie's home!

  • ~ Another brother didn't want the dab of oil at first,

  • ~ but his wife said that he shouldn't turn away a blessing.

  • ~ Everyone was especially joyful that day!

  • ~ Debbie was hopping around the room, lifting her hands with joyful exclamations,

  • ~ and she said that she felt as though she could hop straight to the highest heights of heaven!

  • ~ One of the wives said that she'd never witnessed such an outpouring of God's Spirit and joy and she too was very uplifted!

  • ~ Everyones eyes were bright and everyones hearts were blessed and lifted up greatly!

  • ~ One couple told Chris that they wanted to receive the pouring of oil over their heads at a later date ~ and this was also done!

  • ~ We went to this couples home and offered them the anointing oil over their heads,

  • ~ and again, at their own home, they were beaming with great joy when we prayed with them,

  • ~ and anointed their heads with oil, as the Lord God had counseled us to do.

  • ~ Originally, they didn't want Tod to come with Dave and I,

  • ~ yet we said that he was an integral part of our ministry and that we wanted him to come.

  • ~ It was actually Tod's prophesy at their home, that was the most influential to the couple.

  • ~ Since Tod didn't get saved until 1984 and didn't know many things about this couple at all.

  • ~ They were even more convinced that it was the anointing of the Holy Spirit,

  • ~ that revealed prophetically specific expressions that Tod never could have known.

  • ~ This added to their joy and blessing,

  • ~ when they received the anointing oil and our prayers,

  • ~ for their increased faith, hope, and joy!

    •
  • ~ Yet, even though they had these two very profound and enlightening experiences,

  • ~ of the spiritual lifting of their eyes, hearts, and faces, at Chris's home and their own home,

  • ~ We were shocked when we heard that they joined with Chris and Debbie,

  • ~ telling many other xboos at a future date:

  • ~ That if Dave and I attended a reunion, that they wouldn't be going to it.

    •
  • ~ Who says something like that?

  • ~ Who says that especially to those who took the time to pray for them and bless them?

    •
  • ~ Considering this negative witness that they gave against us, I asked Debbie, at later time:

    •
  • ~ If Alexandra & Tyler, who are also in ministry, traveled to pray with and bless a family,

  • ~ who lived 4 hours away from them, many times a year for almost 20 years,

  • ~ what would you think of that couple, if they turned and SAID,

  • ~ to those who they knew from a group they were in together in the past:

  • ~ "If Tyler and Alexandra go to a Reunion than we're not going to it!"

  • ~ as Chris and Debbie and this other couple had said,

  • ~ with regard to Dave and I and our ministry: Living Water?

  • ~ Debbie said that she wouldn't think very well of them.

    •
  • ~ By their saying to others: that if Dave & I went to an xCobu reunion,

  • ~ that they "wouldn't be going," weren't they making a public judgment against us?

  • ~ Weren't they both testifying against us to others?"

  • ~ Did not these judgments taint the actual joyful witness that we had extended to them when we prayed with them?

  • ~ Did not their public proclamations color our ministry negatively?

  • ~ Did not their expressions distort the positive influence that we recalled when we prayed with them?

  • ~ If YOU prayed with a roomful of xCobu brothers and sisters,
  • ~ and you saw their faces and their eyes and their hearts:
  • ~ blessed and encouraged and lifted up,
  • ~ so much that they wanted you to come to their home and pray with them again.
  • ~ And at their home, as at the previous prayer meeting you again,
  • ~ saw their faces and their eyes and their hearts:
  • ~ blessed and encouraged and lifted up again,
  • ~ what would you think if you later heard that they said of you,

  • ~ "If Dave and Cynthia go to the xCobu reunion, than we're not going?"

  • ~ Wouldn't you count this as a false witness against you and your ministry?

  • ~ Wouldn't you find that this expression conflicted greatly with your recollection of the same experience?

    •
  • ~ Yet this was the Blaise style of Christianity and their witness,

  • ~ that they and their friends, extended against us,

  • ~ who never did either of them any harm nor foul!


  • ~ In fact, Dave and I prayed for them, at their request.

  • ~ Dave poured oil over their heads and blessed them,

  • ~ and we witnessed the lifting of their hearts,

  • ~ and enough joy was evident on their faces that a brother exclaimed:

  • ~ that in all the years he never saw this sister smile even once,

  • ~ yet after they prayed with us their faces changed,

  • ~ from being cast down to being radiant with joy!


  • ~ Dave was so blessed by their lifting that he spun them around in a dance,

  • ~ and then we even went to their home, and again saw their faces lifted up,

  • ~ and yet they spoke against us to others!


    •
  • ~ Is this not an evidence of the strong grip of Cobu's influence,

  • ~ or the influence of opening their ear to their xCobu friends,

  • ~ those who doubt, and nay-say, and puncture, and pooh, pooh, God's blessings,

  • ~ that caused those who were given a joyful blessing,

  • ~ to turn on those who extended it to them?

  • ~ This couple, who after their uplifting from our ministry,

  • ~ from the blessing God put within our hands,

  • ~ were AFTERWARD able to extend blessings,

  • ~ that BEFORE their oil blessing they did not have the strength to extend.

  • ~ Yet it was these who testified against us!

  • ~ God knows all things and we were thankful to be a part of the lifting of these hearts.

  • ~ We were thankful to be able to see the comforting of God's people.

  • ~ We continue to lift up both of these couples in our daily prayers,

  • ~ even though they seem to count us as nothing, and speak ill of us.

  • ~ God knows all things.

    •
  • ~ Wouldn't it be great if they had it in them to bear witness to what the oil blessing truly did for them?

  • ~ Wouldn't it be great if they had it in them to even testify on our own site of the blessings that they received through our ministry?

  • ~ Wouldn't it please God for those who were blessed through the ministry that he put into our hands,

  • ~ if they had the faith to at least testify to the blessings they received from God,

  • ~ because we took the time to visit them and pray with them?

    •
  • ~ Instead of bearing false witness and throwing us under the proverbial bus!

    •
  • ~ Just because it isn't popular in front of their xCobu friends, right or wrong?

    •
  • ~ Dave and I were glad to be part of Isaac, Charity, and Eli's comforting,

  • ~ in the blessing of the anointing with oil and prayers, and seeing some peace come to their young lives.

  • ~ Dave and Chris baptized Isaac and Charity at the beach one year, another very happy memory.


  • ~ Yet my emotions stirred as I watched Alexandra's photo slide show, at her wedding reception,

  • ~ seeing Chris in some of them, in happier times,

  • ~ during the years when we were in fellowship.

  • ~ Some of the photo's I believe I took myself and made copies for them!

  • ~ Though Chris on this day, only seemed to express a scowl towards us,

  • ~ though in the slide show he was very happy, in those years that we were friends.

  • ~ Yet Alexandra said to our son, "We didn't think that you were coming."

  • ~ Had I not extended myself the entire week that Chris was in the ICU at Reading?

  • ~ Had I not visited Chris a couple of times with Dave and Tod,

  • ~ while he was recovering in the Health South Rehab for two months?

  • ~ Had I not driven from my home in NJ to their home in York PA several more times that year?

  • ~ Had I not attended the girls ballet recital in June of that year?

  • ~ Had I not taken the entire Blaise family out to dinner on Father's Day?

  • ~ Didn't I assist Alexandra in addressing and assembling every invitation that she mailed out?

  • ~ Didn't I make another trip to Alexandra's bridal shower?

  • ~ Wasn't it my van that carried each and every bridal shower gift to her apartment!?

  • ~ Hadn't Tod prayed with Alexandra and lifted a deeply oppressive fear, granting her relief,

  • ~ that her own prayers did not penetrate?

  • ~ Didn't Dave and I visit the Blaise family lifting them up in prayer for many years?

  • ~ Hadn't I hand made 200 personalized wedding favors to bless her wedding day!?

  • ~ Hadn't I returned our R.S.V.P.?

  • ~ So, how was it that Alexandra said to our son that they didn't expect our family to attend her wedding?

  • ~ Might it have been because her parents treated us so very shamefully at the xCobu Reunion?

  • ~ Does this give any clue as to the depth of the influence that Cobu continues to hold over so many?

    •
  • ~ Our ministry to the Blaise family began (5/88) the year before my son was even born (8/89),

  • ~ he was 17 at Alexandra's wedding, only 6 days from his 18th birthday,

  • ~ having visited them throughout his entire life, they were more like cousins!

  • ~ Yet Alexandra could say to our son at her wedding reception, "We didn't think you were coming!"

  • ~ And the icing on the cake, that I didn't receive a simple note of thanks from her afterward!

  • ~ The apple didn't fall far from the tree: like parents, like daughter, it seemed.

  • ~ Quite a long time later, while speaking to her sister on the phone,

  • ~ I mentioned that it bothered me not to receive any "thank you" note.

  • ~ After that conversation I did receive a belated expression of thanks from Alexandra,

  • ~ which after all the heart ache was very much appreciated.

    •
  • ~ Yet we were questioned about how we treated them!?


  • ~ We overlooked their poor treatment of us during this event,

  • ~ and tried to remember all the years that we had been friends,

  • ~ as we walked among those who we felt rejected by,

  • ~ although some of them we hadn't even seen since we were in Cobu,

  • ~ but it was obvious to us that we were rejected by them!

  • ~ This was unbelievable to us!

  • ~ All we could do was look at each other and ask ourselves: how did this come to be?


  • ~ We were welcomed by Chris's parents, who tried to apologize for his obvious unpleasantness, saying,

  • ~ "We're so sorry, we don't understand his attitude, but it's so very good to see you both," as his parents embraced us.

  • ~ Our shunning was even obvious to Chris's parents!

  • ~ Who remembered our conduct at Reading Hospital in March, when Chris was at his most vulnerable state.


  • ~ A brother and his wife came to speak to Dave who was sitting at our table.

  • ~ Suddenly, a bunch of brothers corralled around my husband Dave, and they came across: provoking and confrontational.

  • ~ They attempted to cut off the ongoing conversation. Though Dave said, "Hold on, we're talking here."

  • ~ One brother, placed his dirty shoe on my chair seat, while I was speaking with Katy and Charity away from our table.

  • ~ In the middle of his sentence, as though cued by someone else, these brothers suddenly moved away, as one, very strange.

  • ~ It was difficult to be at Alexandra's wedding while Chris spoke ill of us to our face,

  • ~ although we did nothing to deserve the rejection that was aimed toward us.

  • ~ Some of the ones who were there I had even taxied to their cars when they came to visit Chris at the hospital.
  • ~ Yet, they too seemed to follow Chris's lead in treating us coldly!

  • ~ Chris never expressed the least little pangs of conscience,

  • ~ for the negative attitudes and the hostility, that he projected toward us,

  • ~ nor having influenced others, who we also had NEVER wronged!

  • ~ No wonder Tod referred to them as "back-stabbers."

  • ~ What do you call those who you bless and they turn and curse you and your ministry?

  • ~ What did we ever do to deserve YOUR scorn!?

  • ~ How was it that the early brothers and sisters of the Bible spoke to one another?

  • ~ Isn't it sad how the disease of Cobu continues in the lives of those who have not been freed from it's curse!?

  • ~ Who treats those who've expended their own strength for their benefit so shamefully?

  • ~ Aren't these the same behaviors that were learned at the feet of Stewart Traill?

  • ~ Didn't he treat those who spent their strength for his benefit more than poorly?

  • ~ This is just one of the many diseases that we took with us from the church of our youth.

  • ~ Yet Dave and I were the ones accused of how WE treated the Blaise Family!

    •
  • ~ What do you think about how WE had been treated by Chris and Debbie in all of this!?

  • ~ Is slandering, scoffing, cursing us and our ministry, on and on and on, with a false witness what YOU would consider to be proper Christian etiquette!?

  • ~ What kind of hurtful and foul witness did you Chris and you Debbie and you their faithful friends: project against Dave, Tod and I and our fellowship LW,

  • ~ that has been accepted by many, as we, still to this day, continue to feel the residual effects of their betrayal and false witness!?

  • ~ For didn't the way that Chris spoke against us and treat us: in YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB,

  • ~ influence the way that you Mike have treated us, and spoken negatively about us, due to things that he spoke and wrote?

  • ~ Cobu was the breeding ground for the entire group being swayed for, but usually against, those who Stewart Traill publicly slandered.

  • ~ This is another one of the "grips" that some who have left Cobu, yet still seem to carry on in openly being hurtful to others.

  • ~ And as in Cobu, the ones who were the biggest targets, as we have become, are usually the ones who hadn't done anything offensively.

  • ~ Stewart Traill, was the most offensive, the most critical, the most openly nasty, the one who was the most rude:

  • ~ while accusing ones whose only interest was contributing perhaps something as simple as a scripture,

  • ~ yet Stewart Traill cut people down continually in our midst, as he maintained that he was "a man of God."


  • ~ This is one of our post-Cobu Stories, yet I agree with what Chris said to me:

  • ~ "You'll get your thanks in the Resurrection!"

  • ~ Which I will! Because God knows that I always sought to please him,

  • ~ and sought to bring some comfort to those who were hurting!

  • ~ It's not always easy to minister to those who are deeply damaged,

  • ~ but we did our best each and every visit, for many years.

  • ~ Many of the brothers and sisters who we have prayed with over the years know that we never pursue anyone, ever!

  • ~ especially any who have no interest in meeting with us!


    •
  • ~ Had Chris and Debbie simply spoken to us and said that they didn't want to keep in touch with us any longer, as when Chris spoke to Dave in January,

  • ~ we would have gladly left them in peace and given them our blessing to carry on as they desired, as we had then.


  • ~ Why is it that those who were in Cobu have a compulsion to be openly hostile, openly critical, openly oppressive:

  • ~ especially toward those who've only sought to extend kindness toward them?

  • ~ Wasn't this something learned from Stewart Traill, the open hazing of those who contributed financially was a regular sport in Cobu!?

  • ~ Wasn't that also what YOU did Michael, when you "acted as though you had an interest" in our ministry?

  • ~ Hadn't YOU shown YOUR true "lack of interest" when YOU canceled LW's memberships to your xCobu Yahoo CLUB?

  • ~ Didn't YOU cut off all opportunity to field the "supposed questions" that YOU and those in YOUR CLUB claimed to have?

  • ~ Haven't YOU revealed openly on Cobu Stories YOUR intense dislike of my husband?

  • ~ Why do YOU insist on some "vetting" of my husband when YOU obviously have no interest in entering any type of relationship with him?

  • ~ Why do YOU insist on provoking public conversations with those who YOU've been openly hostile toward?


  • ~ Yet, knowing how everything turned out in the experiences that we had with Chris and Debbie, I would do it all again.

  • ~ When I shared this fact with Jan, it shocked her, yet I explained that God counseled us to extend a blessing to any who asked for one.

  • ~ No matter how bitter and painful it was to be openly scorned by them and their xCobu friends, after extending ourselves for their benefit for years,

  • ~ and also by some of their children: who we never did one negative thing toward.

  • ~ Knowing that we only sought to please God, lift up in prayer,

  • ~ and try to bring some blessing to those who God loves, who sought us out for a time!

  • ~ Debbie confessed on many occasions that our ministry brought them much peace and healing.

  • ~ Another reason why their blatant rejection of us personally was so difficult to walk through.

  • ~ Especially the year that many times I alone drove hours to extend myself for her and her children.

  • ~ This is my testimony, a post-Cobu story.

  • ~ This was a most enlightening wilderness experience!

  • ~ One that took much prayer to navigate.

    •
  • ~ Rejection is never something easy for anyone to deal with, especially when it is dealt to you seemingly overnight!

  • ~ Rejection is never something easy for anyone to deal with, especially when it is projected to you by those who you deeply cared for, loved, embraced, and had close ties to one day and the next were scorned by them for "no apparent reason."

  • ~ Rejection is never something easy for anyone to deal with, especially when the contrast between what you extended to them was entirely different from what they extended back.

  • ~ Rejection is never something easy for anyone to deal with, but especially when you are: "who they wanted to stand by their side" at their most desperate hour, but NOT who they preferred in the company of "their old xCobu friends."

    •
  • ~ This was so very much the way that it was in Cobu ~ and currently with those who were in Cobu ~ where they pay homage to some,

  • ~ yet disregard and treat unkindly: those who actually did the grunt work and stressed themselves for others.

  • ~ Although painful to walk through and look back on, I thank God that he has freed me from the grip of those who were insincere in their affections.

    •
    Mt 5:11 "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

    Mt 5:12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.

    Mt 7:3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

    Zec 8:17 do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, says the LORD."

    Mt 9:4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?

    Lk 6:22 "Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man!

    Ps 35:7 For without cause they hid their net for me; without cause they dug a pit for my life.

    Ps 35:19 Let not those rejoice over me who are wrongfully my foes, and let not those wink the eye who hate me without cause.

    Ps 38:19 Those who are my foes without cause are mighty, and many are those who hate me wrongfully.

    Ps 69:4 More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause; mighty are those who would destroy me, those who attack me with lies. What I did not steal must I now restore?

    Act 10:34 And Peter opened his mouth and said: "Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality!

    Eph 6:6 not in the way of eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,

    Num 14:18 'The LORD is slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty.'

    Rom 2:11 For God shows no partiality.

    Nah 1:3 The LORD is slow to anger and of great might, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

    Gal 2:6 And from those who were reputed to be something (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)--those, I say, who were of repute added nothing to me;
    Gal 2:11-13 But when Cephas came to Antioch I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he ate with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And with him the rest of the Jews acted insincerely, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their insincerity.

    Gal 4:16 Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?

    Pr 24:28 Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your lips.

    Ps 109:3 They beset me with words of hate, and attack me without cause.

    Pr 18:17 He who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.

    Col 3:25 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.

    Jas 2:1 My brethren, show no partiality as you hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.

    Jas 2:9 But if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

    1Pe 2:20 For what credit is it, if when you do wrong and are beaten for it you take it patiently? But if when you do right and suffer for it you take it patiently, you have God's approval.

    2Co 1:12 For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience that we have behaved in the world, and still more toward you, with holiness and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God.

    Pro 17:9 He who forgives an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter alienates a friend.

    2Co 6:3-10 We put no obstacle in any one's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: through great endurance... by purity, knowledge, forbearance, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; .. in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

    Job 6:25 How forceful are honest words!

    2Co 6:11 Our mouth is open to you, Corinthians (Cobinthians!); our heart is wide.
    2Co 6:12 You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections.
    2Co 6:13 In return--I speak as to children--widen your hearts also.


  • ~ Then Chris began writing all these cutting and slanderous posts on your site Mike, about Dave, Tod, and our ministry!

    •
  • ~ He went on and on abusing us ~ yet did YOU give him a: NO LONGER A MEMBER message, as you gave to us?

  • ~ Yet Nancy C and others ACCUSED US of how WE WERE BEING toward HIM and HIS family?!!?

  • ~ If that's not the pot calling the kettle black!

  • ~ So YOU and all those in YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB were listening to Chris taking cheap shots at us,

  • ~ then would turn around and say that WE were doing something against HIM and his FAMILY!!

    •
  • ~ What about the way he was treating OUR: family, friends, and ministry!?


  • ~ YOU and your xCobu Yahoo CLUB had no problem that HE was actually the one slandering US!

  • ~ You both have this in common!

  • ~ You both slander us, for what!?

  • ~ How does this help anyone!?

  • ~ Hasn't that been the way Chris has operated all along?

    •
  • ~ Chris learned this from Stewart Traill.

  • ~ The brothers and sisters of Cobu would do all the work and raise all the money and bring all the newly saved to the meetings,

  • ~ and then Stewart would cut us down and chew us out.

  • ~ publicly insulting and humiliating those who supported him, who he didn't address privately,

  • ~ always in love with the audience, just like YOU Mike! Sound familiar!?

    •
  • ~ YOU love the audience also! As YOU've never taken the time to contact Dave privately.

  • ~ YOU keep provoking us on Cobu Stories.

  • ~ YOU even changed the venue of YOUR xCobu Reunion FaceBook page to "have it out with LW!"

  • ~ Although we refrained, as the scripture counsels.


  • ~ Yet the brothers and sisters were always "the accused"

  • ~ the ones who "were never faithful enough"

  • ~ the ones who "were never good enough" ~

  • ~ WELL, THAT WAS JUST A STRAIGHT OUT LIE!!!

  • ~ Just like the stuff that Chris AND YOU enjoy spewing about Dave and LW ~ it was all lies!!

  • ~ And our reply to him and to YOU: NOT GUILTY!

  • ~ NOT GUILTY IN WORD! ~ NOT GUILTY IN DEED! ~ NOT GUILTY IN THOUGHT! ~ NOT GUILTY IN SPEECH!

    • 2Ti 2:23 Have nothing to do with stupid, senseless controversies; you know that they breed quarrels.
    Jas 1:19 Know this, my beloved brethren. Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger,
    Tit 3:9 But avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels over the law, for they are unprofitable and futile.

  • ~ Then Chris "got upset" because we wrote that we weren't guilty for all the things that he accused us of!

  • ~ He appealed to all those in YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB: "Help me!" "LW and Dave are hurting US ~ they keep saying: "Not Guilty!"

  • ~ And all of YOU in YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB bought into Chris's complaints about us!

  • ~ Because he was persistent in continually complaining about us, just going on and on and on, complaining about things that never even happened!

    •
  • ~ Seems like you've taken a play right out of Chris's play book in your current activity on Cobu Stories!

    •
  • ~ What is YOUR big complaint against us?
  • ~ How have we even wronged YOU Michael, in ANY way!?
  • ~ Didn't YOU even confess YOUR irritation that Dave doesn't even write much, ever!?
  • ~ Didn't we comply with YOUR inquiry about our ministry and quickly got booted!?
  • ~ Wasn't our only wrong complying with YOUR inquiry in our post of => The Oil Blessing!?"
  • ~ Didn't YOU unfriend Dave from YOUR FaceBook account?"
  • ~ Didn't YOU influence Cobu Survivors in the canceling of Dave's account with them?
  • ~ Isn't it YOU who has been hostile and provoking towards all of LW, all along?

  • ~ Why?

  • ~ How is YOUR harassment of our ministry pleasing to God!?
  • ~ Or isn't pleasing God an interest of YOUR's!?
  • ~ Didn't YOU claim on Cobu Stories that Dave shows his behavior clearly!?
  • ~ Did YOU not take offense that Dave "liked" YOUR comment!?
  • ~ Hasn't he refused to submit to YOUR continued provocations!?
  • ~ Isn't this prudent behavior when YOU've done nothing, but show us YOUR unfair treatment!?
  • ~ Haven't YOU been unwilling to admit that the way YOU canceled LW's memberships to YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB wasn't right!?
  • ~ If we stacked up in a pile anything negative that YOU have done and said and the same for Dave, who's pile would be higher!?

  • ~ Why do YOU take issue with US?

  • ~ Would YOU like to pray with US?

  • ~ Are YOU guilty Mike?

  • ~ Because this is what YOU are protesting against!!
  • ~ YOU're protesting against a few people who pray together!!
  • ~ YOU're protesting against a few people who even pray for YOU!!
  • ~ As YOU Mike seem to be trying to whip up the support of those in Cobu Stories against us now.

  • ~ And why are you so compelled to do this?
  • ~ What wrong do YOU seem to count against us?
  • ~ Why do YOU take offense at us?
  • ~ Why was it so difficult for you to just receive what you asked of us?
  • ~ Why was it so difficult for YOU to accept our testimony?
  • ~ Why do YOU challenge what we understand as God's will for us?
  • ~ Is it so hard to understand that we asked God to show us how we could help those who were hurt from the church of our youth?
  • ~ Is it so hard to understand that he counseled us to pray with any who come our way with oil and a desire to see the blessings of God go forth?
  • ~ Why do YOU pooh, pooh, the testimony of those who have been in-fellowship with us for many years?
  • ~ Why do YOU Michael James Montoya campaign against us?
  • ~ Why do YOU Michael James Montoya try to discredit our ministry?
  • ~ Why do YOU Michael James Montoya cast doubt upon what we are led of the Lord our God, and our Lord Jesus Christ to do with OUR OWN FAITH!?


  • ~ When Chris made his many: baseless, slanderous posts, we only replied: Not Guilty.

  • ~ Then Chris said that it bothered his wife!

  • ~ We replied: "How is our "Not Guilty" response to "your false charges" upsetting your wife?"

    •
  • ~ Chris replied, "It just does."

  • ~ Prior to Chris's accident and for most of 2006, the year of Chris's accident: Dave, Tod and I consistently prayed for, extended our strength, and were a positive influence to Chris, Debbie, and the Blaise family, until they made it very clear that they wanted nothing more to do with us: at the 2006 Cobu Reunion!

  • ~ We then did, as we always do: let them go their own way.

  • ~ Then after reading the many slanderous posts that Chris made on your xCobu Yahoo website: we went to see him, driving 4 hours each way, twice from NJ to York PA to try to come to some peace with him and his wife.

  • On our first visit we brought them a large chocolate cake that she took inside to enjoy with her family later. We sat outside at their garden table peacefully with Debbie, their son Christopher, who spoke of his excitement in taking his drivers test and their daughter Katy, who was expecting at the time, drinking the water we brought with us. We were pleasant. Chris was at his chess club. When Debbie found out that Chris had no interest in speaking with us after we drove all that way, we left in peace and drove home.

  • ~ On our second visit, Chris answered his door and reacted angrily toward us, he said loudly, "This isn't going to fly!!" as he nearly rolled over Tod's foot on his ramp at his door, if Tod hadn't quickly jumped away from the doorway. Their son Christopher drove up, smiling to see us and proudly showing us the photo on his newly obtained drivers license. Chris entered their van and proceeded to angrily bang on the horn to get Debbie to leave with him. I've never known anyone to act that way. They were going to a mid-week prayer meeting at church. We asked Debbie if we should come back to speak with them after their church meeting and she said, 'No, Chris didn't want us to come back later.'

  • ~ So again, we left in peace.

  • ~ The way that Chris reported these two visits on your message board Mike, seemed more like a "home invasion" than the way that we conducted ourselves.

  • ~ They said they didn't want to speak with us and so we left, end of story.

    • Mt 5:22 But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council...
    Mt 5:23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
    Rm 14:13 Then let us no more pass judgment on one another, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.
    Mt 10:14 And if any one will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town.
    Jas 1:20 for the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God.

  • ~ Yet Chris was unable to even treat us as the scripture counsels a Christian to be toward even their enemies:

    • Mt 5:44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
    Lk 6:27 "But I say to you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
    Lk 6:35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish.
    Rm 12:20 No, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head."


  • ~ Though we went to him as those seeking peace, yet he would not even give us a moment of his time.

  • ~ It seems that Chris & Debbie Blaise were unable to extend this Christian counsel!
  • ~ When we saw that Chris kept making complaint after complaint against us,
  • ~ on YOUR "wonderful" xCobu Yahoo CLUB site,
  • ~ we, according to the scripture:
  • ~ "if your brother has something against you"
  • ~ "leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother" (Mt 5:23, Mt 18:15)

  • ~ We took this counsel to heart and drove the four hour trip each way, to their home: TWICE!
  • ~ And BOTH times they not only would not bring their complaints to us personally,
  • ~ that he made repeatedly on YOUR website,
  • ~ but asked us to leave, which we did, upon the asking.
  • ~ we who extended ourselves for their benefit for almost 20 years,
  • ~ they didn't spare a moment of their time to try to come to some peace with us,

    •

    Now, to your ministry Dave. Why don't you respond?
    And Tod, why do you pick and choose where and when and who you show this ministry to?
    Dave writes this email about what LW is about. Okay fine.I have questions.
    Now we get into the whole thing we already got into.


  • ~ That last phrase is another Stewart Traill quote, so much of what YOU write still seems to carry his stamp.

  • ~ Two days before YOU wrote this letter Mike, Dave and I provided YOU and YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB with:

  • ~ an entire post of "Our statement of Faith => The Oil Blessing"

  • ~ Yet here, YOU refer to what we provided as: "this email about what LW is about"

  • ~ yet in the same paragraph YOU say, "Why don't you respond?"

    •
  • ~ Yet another blatant contradiction!

  • ~ How do accuse Dave of "not responding" when "we had just responded" to YOU?

  • ~ Why wasn't what we provided to YOU and YOUR website, good enough for YOU?

  • ~ Why were YOU incapable of thanking us for responding to YOUR inquiries?

  • ~ Why after we provided YOU and YOUR website with our "Our statement of Faith => The Oil Blessing" to answer YOUR questions,

  • ~ did YOU write this POST of Judgement?

  • ~ Why did YOU then cancel, within 11 hours of writing this letter, 4 LW memberships to YOUR site,

  • ~ making it impossible for us even to respond to YOUR letter on the site that YOU posted it on!?

  • ~ Why do YOU continue to state that "YOU have questions" while at the same time YOU make it impossible for us to communicate with YOU!?

  • ~ Why did YOU make inquiries of us then accuse that our reply to YOUR inquiry was us: using YOUR website to "promote" our ministry?

  • ~ Why did YOU accuse Tod of "picking and choosing where, when, and who" he spoke to about our ministry,

  • ~ when YOU and Nancy and others spoke very clearly: that YOU were NOT open to hearing anything from Tod about our ministry,

  • ~ while at the exact same time YOU demand questions of us!?

  • ~ Why are YOU so insistent and provoking of us?

  • ~ Why are YOU so irritable?

  • ~ Do YOU always treat others the way that YOU have treated us?

  • ~ Why do YOU have so little trust in God that YOU have a need to be controlling?

    •
  • ~ YOU didn't receive our testimonies, as you rejected us from YOUR xCobu Yahoo Club site

  • ~ and later in YOUR letter: YOU liken Jan's response to YOUR inquiry as being like "the disciples of Stewart Traill!"

  • ~ Yet it is YOU who use his words and his tactics!

  • ~ Stewart Traill, like YOU Mike, is very controlling of others.
  • ~ Stewart Traill, like YOU Mike, is very insistent.
  • ~ Stewart Traill, like YOU Mike, being controlling and insisting on his own way, showed a considerable lack of trust in others.
  • ~ Stewart Traill, like YOU Mike, being controlling and insisting on his own way, showed a considerable lack of trust in God.
  • ~ Stewart Traill, like YOU Mike, frequently contradicted himself.
  • ~ Stewart Traill, like YOU Mike, has a difficult time accepting others.
  • ~ Stewart Traill, like YOU Mike, has an inability to own up to his own inconsistencies.
  • ~ Stewart Traill, like YOU Mike, has an inability to make his own behavior right towards those he's wronged.
  • ~ Stewart Traill, like YOU Mike, has an inability to own up to his own lack of Christian ethics.
  • ~ Stewart Traill, like YOU Mike, has a compulsion to provoke others publicly.
  • ~ Stewart Traill, like YOU Mike, has a tendency to become obsessive.
  • ~ Stewart Traill, like YOU Mike, has a tendency to pander to the crowd.
  • ~ Stewart Traill, like YOU Mike, likes the full attention of an audience.
  • ~ Stewart Traill, like YOU Mike, enjoys the pagentry.
  • ~ Stewart Traill, like YOU Mike, gets annoyed when not the center of attention, (tapping on watch).
  • ~ Stewart Traill, like YOU Mike, has a tendency to be oppressive towards others.
  • ~ Stewart Traill, like YOU Mike, gets locked into pointless studies that do little to bless others.
  • ~ Stewart Traill, like YOU Mike, has an over inflated opinion of himself.
  • ~ Stewart Traill, like YOU Mike, seems to thrive on the submission of others.
  • ~ Sometimes I wonder if YOUR popularity among the xboos has more to do with YOUR similarities to our former mentor, than YOUR lack thereof.
  • ~ These were just a few examples, off the top of my head, of the stamp of Stewart Traill that I still see in YOU Mike.

  • ~ These are all examples of having been baptised into and not yet free from the grip of the false teacher that we sat under.

    •
  • ~ Didn't our post quite adequately cover the "basics" of what our ministry is all about for YOU and those on YOUR site!?

  • ~ Did we not respond to YOU?

  • ~ Did not our POST of "Our Statement of Faith" => "The Oil Blessing" cause YOU to cancel Dave's membership to YOUR club?

  • ~ Didn't YOU give him a: NO LONGER A MEMBER, message?

  • ~ Did not Tod's conduct for 7 or more years in YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB give you ANY glimpse into who WE are?

  • ~ Wasn't what YOU did to Tod most unfair to him, especially because he had developed relationships with all of YOU for quite some time?

  • ~ And yet YOU Mike just kicked him to the curb, why!?

  • ~ Again, isn't this YOUR witness to all of us!?

  • ~ Didn't YOUR response to us, show how YOU treat those who took the time to respond to YOUR inquiry!?

  • ~ Isn't this how YOU've projected YOURSELF to us!?

  • ~ What do YOU think that YOUR conduct was the example of!?

  • ~ Didn't YOU: immediately after you posted this kiss-off letter, not even willing to wait for us to have a chance to view it,

  • ~ Did YOU not, Michael James Montoya, born of the spirit, as owner and moderator of YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB,

  • ~ CANCEL all 4 memberships, of those who are in Living Water, without warning, discussion, or inquiry!?

    •
  • ~ In regard to Tod, I'll just say, according to YOU Mike, "he's damned if he does and damned if he didn't!"

  • ~ Here YOU complain: that nobody's TELLING YOU ENOUGH, in YOUR "why do you pick and choose where and when and who you show this ministry to"

  • ~ and in the same breath: YOU admitt that WE did give YOU an email explaining our ministry!

  • ~ then YOU also complain: "YOU're using my website CLUB to promote your ministry!!"

  • ~ Do you not see the double message and double jeopardy and the conflicting messages that YOU project here?

  • ~ YOU complain that: Dave doesn't SAY ENOUGH, yet he had said a whole lot in our post, "The Oil Blessing" To read (Click here)

  • ~ in response to YOUR: "we have questions about your ministry!"

  • ~ I don't ever remember being as repetitive at any other time in my entire life, as I have demonstrated in this response letter!

  • ~ Yet I must say Mike, that YOU pushed me to it!

  • ~ You pushed me to it, because no matter how many times any of us has tried to describe that the way YOU treated us was wrong,

  • ~ YOU have never been able to own up to it, nor "see" what we saw so very clearly, back in January 2011.

  • ~ And, the way that YOU continued throughout, this entire letter: YOUR kiss-off letter to LW, still proclaiming that "YOU have questions!"

  • ~ When YOU clearly have no need, nor interest in what our ministry is, which is fine with us,

  • ~ but part of my need to be repetitive had to do with the repetitive aspects of this letter that YOU wrote to us.

  • ~ So, any of you who've been patient through my blatant redundancy, I truly thank you!

    • Php 3:1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is not irksome to me, and is safe for you.

  • ~ Yet, you didn't want to enter into a dialog about what we very clearly provided for YOU and those in your CLUB!

  • ~ YOU just didn't like our response and cut us out of YOUR CLUB!

  • ~ Once again Mike, we seem to be unable to satisfy your needs.

  • ~ YOU say that YOU have questions: But so far YOU haven't written one.

  • ~ We tell YOU that we have a prayer ministry, and you pontificate that we need to be "vetted" by YOU!

    •
  • ~ Since when does a Christian need to go before a Church counsel to meet with others who WANT to pray with him privately?

    •
  • Jim LaRue also weighed in on this matter on his site: Cobu Stories,
  • ~ when he told you:
  • ~ that you're not in any position to "vet" anyone,
  • ~ since you're not "a church board"
  • ~ and to look at "a marketplace of ideas."
  • ~ Cobu Stories is "a marketplace of ideas"
  • ~ We all have our own voice!
  • ~ Yet you seem to want to silence our voice!

  • ~ We all have our own experiences to share!

  • ~ Yet you seem confused:
  • ~ when YOU ask about our ministry,
  • ~ then cancel our memberships:
  • ~ when we provide our explanation,
  • ~ and some in our group offered their testimonies of their experiences.
  • ~ which YOU rejected!
  • ~ You counted their testimonies as nothing!
  • ~ You counted Jan's precious testimony of personal heart healing as worthless!
  • ~ You counted any testimony from those of LW as equal to those in Cobu!
  • ~ When those of LW spoke of truly being made free from the grip of ST's voice!
  • ~ When those of LW have received direct blessing from the Lord God and Jesus Christ!
  • ~ When those who received the oil blessing have testified of their own lives improving!
  • ~ When those we've prayed with have testified to the crippling affects of Cobu's voice ending!
  • ~ When those we've prayed with testify to noticeable blessings that have comforted their hearts!
  • ~ Even Chris B testified that our ministry "helped his wife" his reason for staying with us for so many years!

    •
  • ~ If someones' wife is blessed for close to 20 years ~ did that blessing not extend to him!?
  • ~ If someones' wife is blessed for close to 20 years ~ did that blessing not extend to their entire family!?
  • ~ If someones' wife is blessed for close to 20 years ~ did that blessing not improve the quality of their lives!?
  • ~ If a family welcomed our ministry for close to 20 years, calling us to visit them time and time again,
  • ~ isn't that a witness in itself of the blessings of God being extended from our ministry?
  • ~ When there are so very many "trust issues" due to the curses that Stewart Traill extended to all of us,
  • ~ especially when some of their xCobu friends who had fears and doubts and were unwilling to hear any of their blessings?
  • ~ Yet this family extended not only a welcome to us and our LW prayer ministry year after year after year,
  • ~ but even welcomed other local xCobu brethren, to meet in their homes for LW prayer meetings, to extend blessings to them also,
  • ~ does not this fact alone also bear witness to the power of God in our prayer ministry?
  • ~ If, even a brother who has been known to throw stones, at not only us, but at you too, and others
  • ~ yet he was still able to confess that our ministry "helped his wife,"
  • ~ how can YOU deny his testimony of the blessings that came to his home through our prayer ministry!?
  • ~ If a blessing came through our ministry to him and to his wife and to his family,
  • ~ how is it that YOU can reject the truth of a testimony of blessings going forth!?
  • ~ How do YOU Michael James Montoya, count as nothing the positive testimonies YOU've heard about our fellowship!?
  • ~ How do YOU Michael James Montoya, count as truth the slanderous postings of one who had a life-altering experience, that he himself contradicted!?
  • ~ How do YOU Michael James Montoya take it upon YOURself to question if our ministry is "of God,"
  • ~ when YOU have no interest in participating in our prayer ministry YOURself at all!?
  • ~ How do YOU Michael James Montoya disregard the testimonies of those who YOU've questioned,
  • ~ and who state that our prayer ministry has lifted them up nearer to God!?
  • ~ How do YOU Michael James Montoya disregard the blessings and comforts received,
  • ~ and testified to by our xCobu brothers and sisters who have prayed with us!?
  • ~ How do YOU Michael James Montoya deny the power of God in our prayer ministry!?

  • ~ This is all that our ministry is:

  • ~ We pray with those who WANT to pray with us.

  • ~ We are very sorry that you seem to have a problem with this simple concept.

  • ~ If the person we pray with has any hurt in their heart,

  • ~ that makes it difficult to function normally in their day to day lives,

  • ~ we also extend a "blessing of oil" upon their heads, if they would like to receive it.

  • ~ This Oil Blessing was what the Lord our God counseled us to offer to any who are hurting,

  • ~ which the Bible also clearly counsels to be extended to any who are suffering.

  • ~ We make no obligations of anyone to do anything, ever.

  • ~ The wounds that were incurred came about over years of sitting at the feet of Stewart Traill in Cobu,

  • ~ and although some get miraculous healing,

  • ~ there are variables that affect the healing ability:

    • Mt 9:29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith be it done to you."
    Mk 11:23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.
    1Jn 5:14 And this is the confidence which we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.
    1Jn 5:15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him.

  • ~ In Cobu everything was about "chasing after the unsaved" "chasing after each other" and "pursuing"

  • ~ and "accusing voices": "If you leave you don't care about the children in Haiti" etc, etc.

  • ~ Well, we aren't about any of that.

  • ~ We don't chase anyone.

  • ~ We don't pursue anyone.

  • ~ The counsel that we received was:

  • ~ "If someone seeks you out, and receives prayer and an oil blessing, but afterward does not contact us,

  • ~ "we don't pursue them" ~ even if they live next door!

  • ~ We were counseled: not to pursue, and we don't.

  • ~ Once a sister asked us to pray for her and give her the oil blessing and when she came up from this very short prayer she was beaming with joy!

  • ~ She said to Dave, "Who are you!?"

  • ~ She said that because the power of the Holy Spirit went forth from Dave and blessed her, which she was surprised by!
  • ~ She was so visually comforted that she went to a brother,
  • ~ who she knew was obviously troubled,
  • ~ and said to him, "You need this blessing! Go, get prayed for!"

  • ~ That brother came and he also received the oil blessing and prayer,
  • ~ and he too was visibly comforted.

  • ~ It was a "one time thing" for them, at an xCobu reunion,
  • ~ yet the next time we saw that sister,
  • ~ she looked down and she looked oppressed again.

  • ~ Why?

  • ~ Receiving healing has to do with having the faith that it will come to you,
  • ~ and not allowing doubt to rob you:
  • ~ of the blessing of God.

  • ~ Unfortunately, we came from:
  • ~ "The Church of Suspicious Doubt" or
  • ~ "The Church of Continual Oppression" or
  • ~ "The Church of no matter what you do, God is not pleased"
  • ~ which really meant that Stewart Traill was never pleased,
  • ~ but that's another story, yet the residual affects of his poison continue to aflict many.

  • ~ Most of us, who were in Cobu, at one point:
  • ~ prayed to receive the gift of salvation,
  • ~ and we believed:
  • ~ that God gave us of His own Holy Spirit.

  • ~ Then we went to a few of Stewart Traill's meetings,
  • ~ and ended up feeling as though:
  • ~ we had no faith,
  • ~ we had no hope,
  • ~ and that we were never good enough.

  • ~ Stewart Traill taught us to doubt.
  • ~ We doubted our own faith,
  • ~ We doubted the intentions of our own hearts,
  • ~ We doubted the intentions of the hearts of our brothers and sisters,
  • ~ We doubted that we could ever do anything that was acceptable to God,
  • ~ We doubted that we could have healthy relationships with each other,
  • ~ We doubted when others would attempt to have healthy romantic relationships,

    •
  • ~ Yet we trusted every doubt that Stewart Traill presented to us about ourselves!

    •
  • ~ Many brothers and sisters doubt any kind of blessing is available to them at all.

  • ~ Some brothers and sisters, receive a blessing,
  • ~ then "talk to the doubting brothers and sisters"
  • ~ who although they are now "OUT of COBU"

  • ~ still speak, and believe, and act the same way they did when: "THEY were IN COBU"

  • ~ these doubters and nay-sayers have robbed many of a blessing!

  • ~ sometimes it's the doubt,
  • ~ that is still in the mind,
  • ~ and in the heart,
  • ~ of the one who got a blessing!

  • ~ Other times it's actually someone else's doubt,
  • ~ that is believed by the one who received a blessing!

  • ~ Once a brother over 50, who had smoked cigarettes since he was 8 years old, was given the power to quit smoking immediately after his oil blessing!
  • ~ This same brother had been house bound due to limited mobility, and could only walk for short spurts around his house,
  • ~ yet after we prayed with him, he was able to walk for longer amounts of time and was even able to drive again!
  • ~ He was overwhelmed with great joy that he was finally able to go out of his home for the very first time in years!
  • ~ The Lord had counseled him to say a short prayer a few times a day,
  • ~ we also counseled him to bear witness to the truth of the blessing he received and what the Lord God had granted him freedom from,
  • ~ and although he began well, after about a week he started to slack off, and was also speaking with those who spoke ill of our ministry.
  • ~ Suddenly after a week of "flying high" on these amazing and inspiring blessings,
  • ~ once again he wasn't able to resist smoking,
  • ~ his ability to get around as well also seemed to diminish,
  • ~ and he called and said that "our blessing to him wore off" and that there must be something wrong with our ministry.
  • ~ Yet to us it had more to do with his own doubt, and the doubt that he received from those who he was talking to.

  • ~ Doubt is the true enemy of faith.

  • ~ Doubt is the true crippler.

  • ~ Doubt is the force that hinders blessings from being realized and maintained.

  • ~ Another very viable enemy is falsehood.

  • ~ When the power of God goes forth through the Holy Spirit, it is necessary to bear witness to the truth of ones experience.

  • ~ This man also experienced a profoundly deep spiritual cleansing, that although he said he was: "shell shocked" to have received,

  • ~ yet he also seemed unwilling to testify to the actual truth of what this "cleansing" had to do with, among his "old xCobu friends"

  • ~ who he was determined to continue a false front before, rather than to testify of the power of God in his experience.

  • ~ He wanted to maintain the same type of "fellowship" that he had with his old friends before our visit, and his healing prayer.

  • ~ He told us that before our visit, he called churches in his area, and spoke to over 18 pastors, yet none would visit him.

  • ~ He saw the post of "The Oil Blessing" and called us and we drove over 8 hours, to pray with him and to seek God on his behalf.

  • ~ Yet he was unable to confess what the Lord did for him, nor of what actually occurred when we went to his home.

  • ~ He was unable to testify of the blessing and of the deep heart cleansing he received for his healing to be maintained.

  • ~ All we can say is that it was very obvious that the power of the Holy Spirit did go forth with an immediate visual blessing.

  • ~ Yet, like in the example of "the sower and the seed" in Matthew chapter 13

  • ~ he immediately received a blessing of joy, yet not having root in himself the enemy snatched away what may have continued,

  • ~ had doubt not entered into his heart and robbed him of his blessing.

    •
    Mt 13:18 "Hear then the parable of the sower.
    Mt 13:19 When any one hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in his heart; this is what was sown along the path.
    Mt 13:20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;
    Mt 13:21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.
    Mt 13:22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the delight in riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
    Mt 13:23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit, and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."

    Mt 10:1 And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity.

    Lk 11:24 "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places seeking rest; and finding none he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'
    Lk 11:25 And when he comes he finds it swept and put in order.
    Lk 11:26 Then he goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first."

    Lk 17:17 Then said Jesus, "Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?
    Lk 17:18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"
    Lk 17:19 And he said to him, "Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well."

    Jas 1:6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
    Jas 1:7 For that person must not suppose that a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways, will receive anything from the Lord.

    2Ti 2:21 If any one purifies himself from what is ignoble, then he will be a vessel for noble use, consecrated and useful to the master of the house, ready for any good work.

    1Jn 3:3 And every one who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

    Heb 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

  • ~ Once I saw a brother and sister beaming with joy,
  • ~ one who was never known to even smile when she was in Cobu!
  • ~ Yet, when I returned home,
  • ~ after just praying with her,
  • ~ the Lord God counseled me:
  • ~ to quickly lift this sister up in prayer,
  • ~ because our enemy was at that moment,
  • ~ sewing doubt,
  • ~ and robbing her heart,
  • ~ of the joy and peace,
  • ~ that he gave to her only hours before,
  • ~ when we prayed for them!

    •
  • ~ Our ministry is about receiving the faith that overcomes ALL the DOUBT that was poured into our hearts and minds through the Church of Stewart Traill, and the doubters he led, that used to be US!

  • ~ I lift up both my hands ~ straight up over my head ~ and thank God that his power is great and that HE is able to lift up even the most stubborn of hearts! :)

  • ~ I thank you oh Lord my God for granting us your blessings,

  • ~ for giving us wisdom in how to pray in faith,

  • ~for granting us authority over unclean spirits,

  • ~ that have been put to flight from those who they oppressed!

  • ~ We've learned, over the 28 years of our ministry so far (1987-2015) that it's vital to have surplus FAITH!

  • ~ that we have to have MORE FAITH ~ than ALL of YOUR DOUBT!!

    •

    You and Dave say you have a ministry for ex-cobu members. Like I said....That means us! You are on one of the largest gatherings on line of ex-members. Whether you have been honest about your intentions here or not, the impression is still questionable. Neil Pendry has his little group. He is steeped in heresy and is not welcome here. Chris Blaise when he had the chance would make his appeal for those here to join him over on his list, which was wierd because this is not a competition and I am not a super center leader and neither is he and so racking up the numbers was never an issue at least for me. Chris' boast of number of messages is to his shame and misunderstanding of what this list is and what his list is.

    And now, as much as you Tod say that you are not pushing your ministry and not trying to bring it up and Dave hardly appears on this list and gosh LW is not trying to push their thing.....the result of your non-pushing, non-selling is that you are now here and using this list as a means to get your ministry presented.

  • Let's get this straight Mike: Did YOU or did YOU not SAY that YOU and those in YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB had questions about our ministry?

  • I'm confused.

  • If YOU announce on YOUR website that: "YOU have questions about someones ministry"

  • and that person and a couple of the members of their group:

  • "do their best to "gift wrap" an explanation of what their ministry is about"

  • or "the experience that they had when they "checked it out" ~

  • or "ask you directly" if they can post their personal experience in response to YOUR expression of interest,

  • how do YOU Mike, then claim that: "we USED your site to Promote our ministry!!?"

  • when all that actually occurred was a polite reply and response to YOUR inquiry!?

  • And, further, if you Mike, "wanted us to field questions" from those who had them in YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB,

  • then why did YOU: "cancel ALL of our memberships" to it?

  • And how do you insinuate the honesty of our intentions!?

  • Did we not state that we pray with those who have any hurts from the church of our youth, in our "Statement of Faith => The Oil Blessing?"

  • How is it that you insinuate wrongdoing on our part, when all we did was respond to your inquiry about our ministry?

  • How is it that you accuse us of being dishonest, when it was you who asked questions of us,

  • and then canceled our memberships so that we could not log in to reply to your inquiry?

  • Was it not YOU Michael James Montoya who treated us unfairly?

  • Was it not YOU Michael James Montoya who treated us dishonestly?

  • Was it not YOU Michael James Montoya who continue to say "we have questions" of us?

  • Was it not YOU Michael James Montoya who has an inability to accept the answers we provided YOU with?

    •
  • The truth is, many have heard about our ministry, long before your site even became available!

    •
  • We've been around since 1987!

    •
  • And I will say with confidence:

  • ~ that those who we've prayed with and some who we still pray with, have been blessed repeatedly,

  • ~ and the strong voices of condemnation and oppression,

  • ~ that we also received at the feet of Stewart Traill and Cobu,

  • ~ have greatly diminished according to our faith! Thank you Jesus!

  • ~ We have not allowed the nay-sayers,

  • ~ nor the doubters,

  • ~ nor the fault finders,

  • ~ nor the pooh-poohers,

  • ~ nor the accusers of the brethren, like YOU Mike,

  • ~ to rob us of God's blessings of peace,

  • ~ through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ!

  • ~ The only one worthy of glory and honor!

    •

    Now is this wrong? Well, no, if you were open about it. You have not been forthright.
    Dave has not been either.
    I have questions, others have questions.
    Not only is it normal, it is scriptural and our duty as Christians to test everything.

  • ~ Who do you think you are Mike Montoya, making a slanderous post like this one!?

    •
  • ~ How dare you say that my husband Dave is not OPEN about OUR MINISTRY!

  • ~ How dare you say that Tod Burros is not forthright!

  • ~ How dare you accuse on this public forum that my beloved husband: Dave Simmons is not forthright!

  • ~ YOU asked HIM about our ministry!
  • ~ and right away: Dave and I prepared a brief statement of our own faith,
  • ~ Titled: "The Oil Blessing"
  • ~ To read "Our Statement of Faith => The Oil Blessing" (Click here).

  • ~ and we POSTED it on YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB site,
  • ~ in RESPONSE to YOUR:
  • ~ "we have questions about your ministry."

  • ~ We labored to answer YOUR question!
  • ~ and present something:
  • ~ in ANSWER to YOUR INQUIRY!
  • ~ and put it on YOUR website!
  • ~ for ALL to read,
  • ~ around 3 or 4 pm, on January 1st, 2011
  • ~ and you wrote:
  • ~ THIS cutting,
  • ~ condemning,
  • ~ judgmental, POST at 1 am on January 4th!

  • ~ And YOU accuse my husband Dave of not being open and forthright!!!

  • ~ While you pontificate and bloviate on Cobu Stories with judgments and criticisms!!!

  • ~ If you're interested in examples of being open and forthright, why don't you read a few examples:

  • ~ To read "Tod Burros => Living Water Experience (Click here).

  • ~ To read "Dan Cooper's => Story of Free from the Grip (Click here).

  • ~ To read "Jan Hilton's => Story of Freedom" (Click here).

  • ~ To read "Susan Coyne => Meets Living Water (Click here).

  • ~ It is really contemptible, the way that YOU falsely accuse others of not being open and forthright!

  • ~ When the open and forthright posts that Dave and I, and Jan Hilton, expressed, caused YOU:

  • ~ Mr. I have the power to pull the plug, Michael Montoya, to CANCEL the memberships of Dave, Tod, Dan and Jan

  • ~ so that if you hadn't made anyone aware of these cancellations,

  • ~ it would seem as though they hadn't answered YOUR lovely post, that I'm responding to now!!!!

  • This behavior comes across as so crafty and squirrelly!!!

    •
  • Why were you so unable to see how vile what YOU did was!?
    •
  • You appear to be:
  • ..cowardly!
  • ..deceitful!
  • ..and dishonest!

    •
  • Why have YOU come off so nasty, vile, and disreputable, to speak so negatively:
  • ~ about our ministry,
  • ~ to my husband, Dave,
  • ~ to my brothers: Tod and Dan,
  • ~ and to my dear sister Jan!?

  • ~ When all we did was:
  • ~ answer YOUR inquiry by providing "Our Statement of Faith => The Oil Blessing"
  • ~ and Jan Hilton also "in answer to YOUR inquiry"
  • ~ provided to YOU and YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB site,
  • ~ her very own personal testimony that she Titled: "My Story of Freedom!"
  • ~ And immediately after receiving these brief posts on YOUR web site,
  • ~ in our attempt to answer YOUR inquiry:
  • ~ of which YOU state here MANY, MANY, TIMES:
  • ~ that YOU still HAVE QUESTIONS:
  • ~ even after we provided these answers,
  • ~ then YOU had the AUDACITY to accuse my husband of NOT BEING OPEN or FORTHRIGHT!



    • [def. squirrelly - restless, nervous, or unpredictable.]

    [def. forthright - (of a person or their manner or speech) direct and outspoken; straightforward and honest.
    "Dave is most forthright in his desire to bring peace and to remove burdens." synonyms: frank, direct, straightforward, honest, candid, open, sincere, outspoken, straight, blunt, plain-spoken, no-nonsense, downright, bluff, matter-of-fact, to the point; informal: upfront]

    [def. audacity- rude or disrespectful behavior; impudence.

    "Michael Montoya asked a question about our ministry, then had the audacity to accuse my husband Dave of not being open or forthright, after Dave took the time to post our answer to his question! Then Mike continued his audacious behavior when he canceled memberships to his CLUB, because we were open and forthright about our beloved ministry ~ offering what it was all about ~ our precious pearls ~ before the likes of one who is contemptible: YOU Michael James Montoya!
    ~ Oh, and as my granddad ~ who was a purple heart veteran of WWI would have said to YOU "Put that in YOUR pipe and smoke it!"
    ~ Or as my grandmother, who was the president of her chapter of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) would say: "Quit your impertinence!" synonyms: impudence, impertinence, insolence, presumption, cheek, bad manners, effrontery, nerve, gall, defiance, temerity; informal: chutzpah, sass]

    [def. judgmental - of or concerning the use of judgment, having or displaying an excessively critical point of view.
    "Mike thinks that he has a right to be judgmental, because he's the moderator of an xCobu website!" synonyms: critical, censorious, condemnatory, disapproving, disparaging, deprecating, negative, overcritical, hypercritical ~ "he's compulsively judgmental"]

    [def. nasty - 1. highly unpleasant, synonyms: disagreeable, distasteful, vile, foul, abominable, repugnant, appalling, atrocious, offensive, objectionable, obnoxious, off-putting; [antonyms: pleasant, delightful, (Ya know, like Dave is!)]
    2. (of a person) behaving in an unpleasant or spiteful way:
    "Mike was nasty in the way that he accused others of wrongdoing, while he was the one pointing the finger, provoking, and being unkind." synonyms: unkind, unpleasant, unfriendly, disagreeable, rude, churlish, spiteful, malicious, mean, ill-tempered, ill-natured, vicious, malevolent, obnoxious, hateful, hurtful;]

    [def. cowardly - lacking courage. synonyms: faint-hearted, lily-livered, spineless, chicken-hearted, craven, timid, timorous, fearful; informal: yellow, chicken, weak-kneed, gutless, yellow-bellied, wimpish, wimpy,
    "It was cowardly of Mike M to post a challenge, and then quickly cancel the memberships of those he questioned, so that they could not respond ~ and making it seem to those watching on the sidelines as though the "challenged" just "weren't interested" when they had no ability to even enter Mike Montoya's xCobu Yahoo CLUB site, nor the Cobu Survivors CLUB site, who followed his lead!"]

    [def. deceitful - guilty of or involving deceit; deceiving or misleading others.
    "It was deceitful to say that Mike's website is for xboos to reconnect, when he canceled the memberships of a few xboos who made contact with old friends and shared the things God had done to bless them." synonyms: dishonest, untruthful, mendacious, insincere, false, disingenuous, untrustworthy, unscrupulous, unprincipled, two-faced, duplicitous, double-dealing, underhanded, crafty, cunning, sly, scheming, calculating, treacherous, Machiavellian, sneaky, tricky, foxy, crooked]


  • ~ So Mike, if YOU were so very eager to ask YOUR questions and get our responses,

  • ~ why did YOU make this post: after midnight and on the same day BEFORE 12 O'clock NOON,

  • ~ did YOU cancel the membership of Dave, Tod, Jan and Dan?

  • ~ So they each received a: NO LONGER A MEMBER, message when they tried to log in!!

  • ~ Before they even got home from work to view and reply publicly to YOUR POST!?

  • ~ It was good thing that Dave glanced at YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB, to see if anyone responded to his Post: "The Oil Blessing"

  • ~ just before leaving for work early that morning and had the foresight to copy THIS POST that YOU MADE,

  • ~ or THEY (Dave, Tod, Dan & Jan) wouldn't have even known that YOU had written THIS!!!

  • ~ Patience, it's a fruit of the Holy Spirit of God.


  • ~ It's something Dave has great reserves of, I should know, I'm his wife :)

    • 1Co 13:5 (Love) is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
    Job 6:25 How forceful are honest words!

  • ~ Are YOU irritable Mike? Because much of what I've read, that YOU've written, sounds that way.

  • ~ This scripture is about the greatest gift of God: His love!

  • ~ God isn't "into" pushing anyone around!

  • ~ God is about giving US a FREE WILL!

  • ~ Now, Stewart Traill, unlike God the Father, was very much "into" pushing all of US around for years!

  • ~ And those who imitate Stewart Traill, and try to push God's own people around.

    •
  • ~ When I read what YOU wrote to us, YOU made erroneous assumptions:

  • ~ about Jan's motives in writing her post,

  • ~ about Jan and Dan "gaining access" by some "secret door"

  • ~ EVEN though it was YOU who let them into YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB,

  • ~ and then QUICKLY,
  • ~ without any conversation,
  • ~ without any patience,
  • ~ without any kindness,
  • ~ without any brotherly affection,
  • ~ without any thankfulness for our contributions to YOUR question about our ministry,
  • ~ without any love,
  • ~ or any of the many other FRUITS of the Holy Spirit of God,

  • ~ YOU, Michael James Montoya, pushed THE EJECT button, and canceled access to YOUR wonderful CLUB

  • ~ and IN this POST, began insisting that we do things "YOUR way"

  • ~ and not the way that we were counseled to do them by the Lord our God!

  • ~ Yet, we will continue to do things as we have heard from God, and our understanding of His Word!

  • ~ We trust that God is able: to bless his people, in his own way, in his own time.

  • ~ If he can bless us, he can bless others too!

  • ~ God doesn't need us to bring his peace to his people.

  • ~ We just take great pleasure in being available if someone is suffering!

  • ~ If anyone seeks us out, we will do everything in our power to seek God on their behalf, as we did for Chris & Debbie for almost 20 years!

  • ~ If anyone desires a blessing, we are thankful that God has given us a blessing!

  • ~ You have to have a blessing, in order to give one!


    • 2Co 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
    2Co 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
    2Co 1:4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
    2Co 1:7 Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

  • ~ We are not so foolish as to think that God is limited to us.

  • ~ At the same time, we see many who are still under the influence of the oppressive message that:

  • ~ Stewart Traill imprinted on the hearts and minds of those who were in Cobu.

  • ~ On behalf of any who are still suffering we do all that we can to publish the lies,

  • ~ that have conquered the faith of quite a few,

  • ~ and pray with any who feel a need to receive a blessing.

    •
  • ~ And Mike, if you feel that you can take away our God-given right to seek him and our Savior Jesus, than it's you who has a problem.

    •
    Have you Tod, or you Dave brought your ministry to our attention or anyone's attention to see whether or not you were running in vain or laboring in vain?

  • ~ No Mike.

  • ~ YOU wrote that YOU and those in YOUR CLUB "supposedly"
  • ~ were "interested in" and "had questions about" our ministry
  • ~ THAT was WHY we brought it TO YOUR ATTENTION on YOUR CLUB site
  • ~ because YOU said that YOU had an interest
  • ~ it was at YOUR request!

  • ~ YET, you actually HAD NO INTEREST, because as soon as we posted:
  • ~ "Our Statement of Faith => The Oil Blessing"
  • ~ and Jan shared her "Story of Freedom"
  • ~ YOU QUICKLY gave 4 xboos the:
  • ~ NO LONGER A MEMBER, message,
  • ~ even though in this letter YOU continue to mention several times that "YOU still have questions!"

  • ~ Our ministry has been around since 1987

  • ~ and it's still functioning quite well, thank you!

  • ~ YOUR websites didn't come around until 1998 ~ 11 years later!

  • ~ Yet YOU seem to want us to submit to YOU as some kind of "authority"

  • ~ This expectation that YOU seem to keep insisting on is not scripturally sound

  • ~ As I've included many scriptures on this page that reflect this fact.

    •
  • ~ Do YOU seek to hinder our ministry?

  • ~ Do YOU seek to crush what God began in us?

  • ~ From the the way YOU've treated us and the way YOU write:

  • ~ YOU do not seem to be offering any kind of blessing, or kindness, or benefit.

    •
  • ~ What do YOU seek from us? And why?

    • 1Co 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

    Gal 1:10 Am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ.

    1Th 2:4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please men, but to please God who tests our hearts.

    Ecc 8:5 He who obeys a command will meet no harm.

    Heb 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

    Php 1:6 And I am sure that he who began a good work in (us!) .. will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

    Php 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

  • ~ If anyone reading this prayed with us and you received the "blessing of the oil and prayer"
  • ~ and you would like us to post your experience, positive or negative,
  • ~ including your name
  • ~ or just stating that: "one brother" or "one sister" wrote this about their experience with an Oil Blessing:
  • ~ Please send what you would like to share with others who visit our site to:
  • ~ info@freefromthegrip.com

  • ~ We would be glad to include your experience on our site,
  • ~ for the purpose giving others who were in Cobu or are still in Cobu,
  • ~ and may have need of a blessing, an accurate account of what others experienced,
  • ~ who have participated in our prayer ministry.

  • ~ As we've stated before, although we have seen the lifting of hearts and eyes and faces,
  • ~ we don't necessarily know the depth of what God has done.

  • ~ I've stated here that slanderous testimonies have been stated and been believed of us.

  • ~ Here is your chance to set the record straight.

    •
  • ~ Did YOU ever meet with Dave and I?

  • ~ Did YOU ever pray with us, ever?

    •
  • ~ Here's YOUR opportunity to extend a couple of words about what you experienced.

  • ~ We know what we witnessed, take a moment and share your experience.

  • ~ If we ever took the time to meet with you, or visit you, or pray for you, let us know your experience.

  • ~ We are so very weary of the nay-saying, when we know that God extended blessings.

  • ~ Don't be counted as those who threw us, as God's servants, under the bus.

  • ~ Share what only was seen through your own eyes.

  • ~ We appreciate anything that you would like to share with us: thank you!

    •
    If you come here talking about your ministry to ex-members, are you seeking ordination or approval or certification or advice?

  • No Mike.

  • ~ We only seek to pray with any who are suffering.
  • ~ This is what the Lord our God counseled us to extend to any who seek us out.
  • ~ We have faith in God and have seen his healing power bring peace to those who are hurting.
  • ~ This is what we seek.

  • ~ What do YOU seek?

    • Jas 5:13 Is any one among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praise.
    Jas 5:14 Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;
    Jas 5:15 and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.


    Don't tell me, "we didn't bring up our ministry, others did" sorry....you did bring up your testimony and you have alluded to your ministry enough that even without Chris' charges we would have known about it.


  • ~ It wouldn't be much of a ministry if no one heard about it!

    •
  • ~ Why do you take issue with us about sharing what we do? This is just strange!

  • ~ First YOU accuse us of "not being forthright" which, if you read the definition above, basically means: "being open" ~

  • ~ so you accused: that we're not open!

  • ~ Then in this portion of your "Post of Judgment": YOU go in the other direction and YOU accuse: that "we are open about our ministry!"

  • ~ Well Mike, why wouldn't we be open about our ministry!? It's OURS!

  • ~ We discuss it! Why do YOU have a problem with that!?

  • ~ How is it that YOU accuse us of both "not being open" and also accuse us "of being open" about our ministry ~ both at the same time!!??

  • ~ Are YOU confused!?

    •
  • ~ The fact that what YOU're complaining about was that we were answering YOUR own INQUIRY is actually strange!

    •
  • ~ Are YOU always irritated when someone answers YOUR questions?

    •
  • ~ "YOU said" that YOU and others on YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB site "had questions" about OUR ministry,

  • ~ So we RESPONDED with "The Oil Blessing"

  • ~ How can you say #1. that we're "Not Forthright," when we supplied a complete explanation of our ministry to YOU Mike,

  • ~ and for those on YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB site

  • ~ and then #2. YOU turn around and ACCUSE US of "bringing UP our testimony" and

  • ~ that "we ALLUDED to OUR MINISTRY!?"

  • ~ We didn't allude to anything ~ we told YOU what OUR MINISTRY IS!!

  • ~ Do YOU Michael Montoya even see how twisted YOUR contradicting accusations are!?

    •
  • ~ According to you Mike: "we're damned if we do and we're damned if we don't!"

  • ~ Why do you judge us?

  • ~ What is it Mike, do YOU and YOUR friends:

  • ~ have "unspoken codes of conduct"
  • ~ that unbeknownst to us, that we somehow violated!?
  • ~ Is something quite wrong with YOU?
  • ~ Do YOU always expect people NOT to speak about their actual concerns!?
  • ~ Is this some xCobu "Code of Conduct" that YOU and all YOUR friends came up with!?
  • ~ Do YOU always FORBID people to speak about where they get blessed!?
  • ~ Do YOU always FORBID people to speak about what they are encouraged by!?
  • ~ Do YOU always FORBID people to speak about the ways God blesses their hearts!?

  • ~ Is this more of the forbidden "rules of conduct" for xBoos that we just weren't privy to!?

    •
  • ~ If the Lord counseled us to share something he spoke to us,

  • ~ then yes, we obeyed what we understood as "the voice of the Lord" and we posted it.

  • ~ Or if one of us felt moved to write from our hearts, just like anyone else, we do!

    •
  • ~ What I want to know Mike, is why you seem so compelled to campaign against us?

  • ~ I mean really, why do you take such offense at us?

  • ~ Do you give everyone who believes in Jesus and has the faith to say so the third degree?

    •
  • ~ In scripture, even the insincere were commended for proclaiming Christ!

    • Mt 11:6 And blessed is he who takes no offense at me."

    Php 1:18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in that I rejoice.

    Lk 7:23 And blessed is he who takes no offense at me."

    Act 6:4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word."

    2Co 6:8 ..We are treated as impostors, and yet are true;

    Mt 25:40 And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'


    What I am asking for is walking in the Light. You and Dave have a ministry. fine. Now what? What do you want any of us to do about it? Do you want us to join?


  • ~ Why do you sound like such a thug, Michael!
  • ~ Asking us: "What do you want us to do about it!?"
  • ~ Don't you even see how nasty you sound?
  • ~ Do you always treat people who take the time to answer you, so abusively?
  • ~ Did YOU not ASK US about our ministry, Michael!?
  • ~ Have YOU not continued to state that "YOU and those in YOUR club still HAVE more QUESTIONS of us!?"
  • ~ Upon our response to YOUR inquiry, YOU write: "What do you want us to do about it!?"
  • ~ Did we ask anything of YOU or YOUR site in our "Statement of Faith" => "The Oil Blessing!?"
  • ~ Have YOU forgotten what we extended to YOU upon YOUR request!?
  • ~ Do YOU want to "check it out again"
  • ~ and see if YOUR accusation
  • ~ of US expecting anyone "to do anything about our ministry"
  • ~ has any validity at all?
  • ~ If you do, here's the link:

  • ~ (Click here to read "Our reply to YOUR inquiry about OUR ministry")

  • ~ Is it that YOU conveniently "forgot" what we extended to YOU,
  • ~ like YOU did earlier in this letter, when YOU "forgot"
  • ~ that YOU welcomed Jan and Dan into YOUR xCobu website,
  • ~ and then accused them of "gaining access" by some secret door,
  • ~ when YOU actually "forgot that it was YOU Mike who welcomed them into YOUR site,
  • ~ and then turned around and slammed the door in their face,
  • ~ and kicked them to the curb, with YOUR: NO LONGER A MEMBER, message
  • ~ just because they read that "YOU had questions" about our prayer ministry!?
  • ~ Do YOU not see how provoking YOU come across!?
  • ~ Do YOU not see how nasty it was of YOU to inquire of us,
  • ~ and then to be accusatory toward us,
  • ~ upon our compliance with YOUR request!?

    •
  • ~ No, we've never asked anyone to join.
  • ~ Once in awhile we've heard different xbooers say, "I'm not interested in joining LW."
  • ~ And we just shake our heads and say, "I don't remember ever asking (him or her) to join us, did you?"
  • ~ "No, I didn't either."
    •
  • ~ "Hey Jan, did you ask anyone to join LW?"
    •
  • ~ "No, I don't recall doing that either."
    •
  • ~ "How about you Tod, did you ask anyone to join LW?"
    •
  • ~ "No, I didn't ask anyone to join us either."
    •
  • ~ "Okay, so, they just "felt compelled to volunteer that they didn't want to join us" is that okay with you?"
    •
  • ~ "Yeah, that's okay with us."
    •
  • ~ "Okay, now that that's settled, does anyone have a prayer request?"

    •
  • Mike, this is curious that YOU question "our walking in the Light"
  • ~ if by this YOU mean "are we open" about our ministry,
  • ~ as YOU've said even in this letter,
  • ~ that even without the things that Chris spoke about us,
  • ~ YOU had heard about our ministry,
  • ~ so, YOU've answered YOUR own question,
  • ~ if YOU heard about our ministry, then it was OUT THERE!
  • ~ that WE have one,
  • ~ so YEAH, it's been in THE LIGHT since DAY one,
  • ~ where were YOU!!!
  • ~ Maybe YOU were in the dark,
  • ~ but we've always been in THE LIGHT!!

    • Jn 7:4 For no man works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world."

    Lk 11:33 "No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a bushel, but on a stand, that those who enter may see the light.

    Mt 5:14 "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid.

    Jn 8:12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

    Jn 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

    Lk 12:32 "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

  • ~ You see Mike, we don't mind being "a little flock" you see, in a little flock we get all the more personal attention from our heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!

    • Do you want us to spread the word about it?

  • ~ Absolutely not! Never asked you for anything.

    What are you asking anyone here to do?

  • ~ We didn't ask anything of anyone on your site.

  • In fact, even the ones who have received the oil blessing and prayers from us, we haven't asked anything from them either!

    • If you cannot be clear on this minor point then how can you expect anyone here to trust you further?

  • ~ We never entertained the thought that you trust anyone Michael!

  • ~ Stewart Traill did a wonderful job getting all the brothers and sisters not to trust each other.

  • ~ It doesn't surprise us at all, that YOU and those in YOUR CLUB still lack the ability to trust others.

  • ~ Due to the lack of simple trust even having a conversation with you proves quite difficult.

  • ~ YOU suggest that "we aren't clear"

  • ~ when it's apparent that YOU didn't even read what we provided to YOU and YOUR CLUB!

  • ~ When actually "Our Statement of Faith => The Oil Blessing

  • ~ presented very concisely that we make "no expectations" of anyone at all!

  • ~ So, Michael, once again, YOU show YOUR true nature:
  • ~ One who makes false accusations,
  • ~ One who alludes to some "trust" being extended previously, when it actually wasn't,
  • ~ One who disregards what was actually extended to him and his CLUB,
  • ~ One who has offered no appreciation for what we freely offered upon inquiry,
  • ~ One who alludes to "trust" being established,
  • ~ One who allowed Chris Blaise to "vent" and "accuse" without one word of inquiry,
  • ~ One who allows everyone on his site to curse the ministry of others without censor,
  • ~ One who kicks xCobu brothers and sisters out of his group for simply writing their own personal testimony!
  • ~ One who believes he has "some right" to EVEN question us,
  • ~ when he's shown by what he's written that he has no interest in our ministry at all!

    •  Dave, if you are opening your ministry up to brethren here, then field questions here about your ministry.

  • ~ Once again Mike, you prevented that all by yourself:
  • ~ No membership.
  • ~ No access.
  • ~ No questions answered.
  • ~ No one has any questions, because that would mean you don't "have ALL the ANSWERS."
  • ~ Another Cobu tradition!
  • ~ If you are interested in reading some of the non-biblical Cobu traditions we've been able to recognize, (Click here).
  • ~ And if you can think of other "Cobu Traditions" that contradict the word of God, please send them to us at: info@freefromthegrip.com

  • ~ Yet, for someone who "has all the answers," you're quite persistent and act as though we're keeping some deep secret from you.

    • If you don't care that some here have questions and you don't intend to answer anyone here then do not offer your ministry.

  • ~ YOU're the one Mike, who prevented US from having any conversations with YOU,
  • ~ or anyone else, in YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB.
  • ~ YOU're the one who doesn't care about US!
  • ~ YOU're the one who rejected US!
  • ~ And, for the record, once again:
  • => Tod fielded questions from those in YOUR xCobu Yahoo club site for two weeks,
  • => Dave and I provided "Our Statement of Faith => The Oil Blessing,
  • => Jan gave you her profound personal "Story of Freedom" and
  • => Dan was inspired to draft his own Living Water testimony to enlighten and answer questions,
  • => ~ yet YOU canceled all of their memberships to YOUR club site,
  • => before we even had an opportunity to see if any replied to what we already provided YOU with.
    •
  • => So, Mike, who is it who really didn't care to accommodate communications?
  • => Who is it that showed partiality against the xCobu brothers: Dave, Tod, Dan, and Sister Jan?
  • => Who is it who "pulled the plug" and gave all of us a: NO LONGER A MEMBER, message?
  • => That, my dear brother, was YOU!
  • => So, don't try to shift the blame of non-communication to us!
  • => When it was YOU who blocked our opportunity to field questions!
  • => Questions that were so unimportant to YOU that YOU slammed the proverbial door in all of our faces!

    •  I for one am not going to stand here and have you or Tod or anyone come on this list and offer some ministry which has born no scrutiny.

    Testimonials from the few who have been blessed by your work does not meet the test.

    Call up current Cobu and ask them if they are being fed or blessed by ST....you can get at least 50 testimonials of how God is using ST.

  • ~ You win!!

    •
  • ~ Why should we waste our time sharing our "testimonies" when YOU don't have an ear for ANY of them anyway!?

    •
  • ~ Thanks Mike, for likening our prayer ministry to Stewart Traill's Cobu cult!

  • ~ Funny, but we never asked anyone to expend their labors for us,
  • ~ nor give us all the cash they've earned,
  • ~ nor expected anyone to sit for hours as we pontificate,
  • ~ nor move into poor housing and provide free labor for us,
  • ~ and earn funds for our personal needs of:
  • ~ luxurious mansions with pools,
  • ~ high property taxed locations,
  • ~ the owning of planes,
  • ~ the funds to hang the planes,
  • ~ the funds to fuel the planes,
  • ~ the funds to maintain the planes,
  • ~ nor the oppressive expectations of the minds, hearts, or occupations of anyone,
  • ~ nor have we expected couples to grant us their young daughters with questionable intentions as Stewart Traill has expected of those in his group,
  • ~ nor even expected anyone to share the blessings that go forth from the ministry we've been given,
  • ~ nor have we expected any to meet with us, as ST and Cobu continue to do now and did to us!
  • ~ In fact, we've made it a point not to ask anything from any one!
  • ~ Perhaps YOU could ask some of those who've received the oil blessing and prayed with us,
  • ~ but we don't even disclose those who've come to receive a blessing either!

  • ~ They could tell YOU themselves, if they wanted to, but that's their choice.

    •
  • ~ Once I went to a reunion, and a sister who had prayed with us, came to me and said that ever since the day she prayed with us, when the Lord showed me to put my hand on her ear and the Lord spoke, "I give you an ear blessing" ~ she told me that she received the ability to understand the interpretation of tongues ~ Yet until the moment that she shared that information with me at that reunion, I had no idea what blessing the Lord God had extended to her, when he told me to say those words to her ~ it was between her and the Lord God himself!

  • ~ Just as when I read Jan's testimony, that she put on YOUR web page. That was when I learned that when the Lord lifted up the prophetic words saying to her: �Don�t be afraid to speak out the things that I am saying to you.� ~ until I read, what she shared with YOU and those on YOUR site, that was when I learned that God used the gift He put within me, for His purpose. That was when I learned that God used His gift within me to reassure Jan that it was the Lord God Himself, comforting her. It was a personal thing between someone who came to pray with us and the Lord God himself. I had no idea why He told me to speak those words to her, nor what the effect of those words were for her at that time. This is the power of the spirit of God in us.

    •
  • ~ Even a blessing for her little boy, who was more than challenging from what I remember. Before he received the oil blessing, he kept repeating to the adults the things they would say, in a mocking, provoking, and very irritating behavior ~ yet after he received the oil blessing, it was as though he changed before our eyes, and he was such a little boy, and God gave him a beautiful blessing ~ Jan wrote that she had never seen him so relaxed and giggling and happy ~ what she didn't include, was that before our eyes he seemed to turn from being an obnoxious little challenge, to a pleasant little guest, that we were glad to be with!

  • ~ Did YOU ever see that happen in Cobu!?

  • ~ or at any of YOUR OWN prayer meetings, if YOU even have prayer meetings!?

    •
  • ~ Nor on the later date, did I know what the Oil blessing was for Steve Hilton. That he was suddenly lifted up and motivated to go to a Cobu Reunion, in the hopes that he would see others comforted! And God did not disappoint him, when out of the many who were at that reunion 11 had the faith to come to that picnic table in that grand pavilion and receive the blessing of the oil upon their heads and our heartfelt prayers ~ it was between Jan's husband Steve Hilton and the Lord our God ~ that lifted him up, through our prayer ministry!

  • ~ Nor did I know exactly what burden Jan was carrying about the mothering of her oldest son, the day the Lord showed me to embrace her and to speak those words into her ear, that penetrated a bondage, that the enemy of peace was using to daily oppress her, until she spoke to me about what had occurred during the prayer we had with her!

    •
  • ~ Due to these few examples and many more that I'm aware of, I will say to you, the reader of this page, that God has granted me and several of those in our fellowship with a very unique gift.

  • ~ One of which is that God has made me a conduit of His peace.

  • ~ You may ask yourself, what do I mean by that and I will try to explain using the examples that you've already read above.

  • ~ If someone came to pray with me and the Lord showed me to touch their ear and say, "I give you an ear blessing."

  • ~ and then they received a gift that was only between them and the gift giver, or the Lord our God.

  • ~ Or if I prayed with someone and the Lord showed me to say, �Don�t be afraid to speak out the things that I am saying to you.�

  • ~ When I myself was not even aware that the Lord was speaking to her at all,

  • ~ nor what it meant for her to hear those words at that time.

  • ~ Were not blessings transferred between myself and the recipient of those blessings?

  • ~ Were not these recipients able to express their awareness of power going forth that blessed them?

  • ~ If they were able to recognize the blessing and comforting of their own hearts,

  • ~ had they not testified to the power of God using our ministry for their benefit?

  • ~ Had they not expressed that "something happened" that we weren't even aware of!?

  • ~ Is that not the true test of whether or not God is in a ministry?

  • ~ Don't we know that it isn't Dave nor I that reached inside those who were hurting and granted them a tangible blessing?

  • ~ Can YOU deny those who've actually had the faith to pray with us, and testify to being uplifted!?

  • ~ Isn't that why YOU kicked us out of YOUR web site?

  • ~ Weren't YOU profoundly bothered by those who were glad to testify,

  • ~ to what blessed them through our ministry, that YOU were looking to trash!?

  • ~ Why do YOU, Michael James Montoya: minimize, disqualify, cast doubt on, discredit, look down YOUR nose at, sneer at, undermine, crush, diminish, slander, obliterate, annihilate, decimate, demolish, eliminate, spit upon, cast out as worthless, pour out as nothing, lay to waste, nay-say, turn into something ugly, count as something undesirable, pooh-pooh, etc, etc,

  • ~ a woman's precious testimony of God: blessing her heart, and her mind, and her soul, and her child, and her husband, and her ability to navigate her life better than she had been able to: prior to her visit with us: Living Water?

    •
  • ~ Why do YOU think that brother was so profoundly opposed,
  • ~ to the way that he heard that YOU treated Jan,
  • ~ who has become very dear to him,
  • ~ and to our ministry: that has provided him with a measure of peace,
  • ~ that he felt provoked to say things that he normally would never say?

  • ~ When he said "that you acted like a punk bully"
  • ~ and that YOU were a "womanizer" or one who picks on women,
  • ~ which he's since apologized to YOU for saying and has received your forgiveness!
  • ~ Never-the-less, it was YOUR behavior that provoked this!

  • ~ Yet hadn't YOU still maintained that there was "nothing wrong"
  • ~ with the way that YOU treated Jan, Dan, Tod and Dave!?

  • ~ Had YOU not written to Dan on October 1st, 2014
  • ~ where you were still maintaining "that YOU did nothing wrong?"

  • ~ Saying that it was: totally OKAY for YOU to ask us about our ministry on YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB site ~

  • ~ then as soon as we provided our answers ~ YOU canceled our memberships ~

  • ~ and in this lovely kiss-off letter YOU still continue to state that "YOU have questions,"

  • ~ after PROVING that YOU have no intentions to even hear anything that we have to say at all!

  • ~ Where YOU've questioned the honesty of our intentions!

  • ~ When the honesty of YOUR intentions has been most questionable!

  • ~ YOU wrote that our testimonies mean absolutely nothing to YOU!

  • ~ As YOU sneer at a persons heartfelt expression!

  • ~ YOU come across as a pompous ignoramus!

  • ~ Unable to even see that YOU act worse than any of the unbelievers that I know!

  • ~ Yet in YOUR twisted thinking YOU continue to stand behind the way that YOU treated us!

  • ~ Unable to even recognize that even unsaved people in the world,

  • ~ are more sensitive and considerate than YOU!

  • ~ Saying that there was absolutely nothing wrong with what YOU did!

  • ~ How very Stewartesque of YOU!


  • ~ YOU may want to re-examine what YOUR own testimony has been projecting.

  • ~ Perhaps you should consider vetting yourself!

  • ~ Like when the brother who said YOU act like a "punk bully"

  • ~ also asked YOU whether or not YOU own a mirror!

  • ~ YOU may want to re-examine YOUR own spiritual condition.


  • ~ The fact that YOU Michael James Montoya, born of the spirit, can after reading Jan's testimony, can liken our prayer ministry, to the mindless, soul-less, heartless, money-grabbing, strength-sapping, heart-robbing, Borg-like machine that Cobu was and continues to be today ~ shows me how truly damaged YOU've become.

  • ~ YOU minimize the power of God in YOUR comparison!

  • ~ YOU disqualify the spiritual blessing that God extended to one who was hurting!

  • ~ YOU neglected to see what Jan shared!

  • ~ That she bared her very soul, sharing with YOU and YOUR xCobu CLUB:

  • ~ how crippled she felt when she left the cult of Cobu,

  • ~ that she was having a difficult time navigating her daily life as a wife and mother,

  • ~ and she shared with YOU and those in YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB:

  • ~ her tenderest moments of feeling overwhelmed, oppressed, and stressed,

  • ~ of heart and mind and soul,

  • ~ and in her expression of finding a little bit of light come into her lonely place of darkness,

  • ~ that opened up for her and her husband and their children a turning point,

  • ~ a point where the God of the Bible: (that none of us even saw in Cobu)

  • ~ the tender, kind, and loving God she always read about, but until then she never "knew,"

  • ~ suddenly entered into her consciousness, entered into her life ~ she received a true introduction,

  • ~ she recognized that her heart was lifted up,

  • ~ she recognized that her eyes were open,

  • ~ she recognized that change occurred for her and her whole family,

  • ~ she recognized the refreshment of meeting the Lord God of Hosts, for real!

  • ~ And she didn't "get slain in the spirit" or "get put into service for Dave and I"

  • ~ but she said that it was a turning point for her and her whole family,

  • ~ and I'll just say, of my dear sister Jan, that as many times as we've prayed together,

  • ~ that that turning point has continued to evolve and grow and be strengthened,

  • ~ for HER OWN BENEFIT ~ and for HER FAMILIES BENEFIT!

  • ~ Not for my benefit or my husbands benefit!



  • ~ Would that EVEN YOU Michael James Montoya, would look at this perception of how we've come to see YOU,

  • ~ and even in this, there is still the possibility of having a blessing for YOURSELF!

  • ~ Would that YOU too could find the way of escape,

  • ~ from the darkness that causes YOU to have the inability to trust,

  • ~ in the truthful witness of one who has received a blessing!

  • ~ Would that our Lord God of Hosts, and our Savior, Jesus Christ the righteous,

  • ~ could extend a blessing to even YOU Mike! This is our prayer!

  • ~ That YOU might recognize how crippled YOUR own heart has become,

  • ~ and ASK FOR and RECEIVE an empowered blessing,

  • ~ like the blessing that our dear sister Jan received!

  • ~ That the Lord our God might grant YOU Mike, a true awakening, true redemption,

  • ~ And grant for YOU a tangible blessing that YOU can TAKE WITH YOU wherever YOU go!

  • ~ Instead of the spirit of suspicious doubt, that we were taught in the church of our youth!

  • ~ That still cleaves and clings to many of the hearts that sat under its rule!

  • ~ My prayer for YOU Mike, is that YOU can GET FREE from THE GRIP,

  • ~ that has made it impossible for YOU to even see,

  • ~ the uniqueness of the blessing that Jan received,

  • ~ and that is also available to YOU too!

  • ~ (Oh, and Chris, I think I just went witnessing today!)


  • ~ Jan left her comfort-zone, not knowing if anything would happen at all,

  • ~ and ended up receiving a gift that has removed numerous heart burdens ~

  • ~ and this WAS THE GIFT OF GOD TO HER ~ and SHE TOOK IT WITH HER!

  • ~ We took nothing from her!

  • ~ We're about removing burdens.

  • ~ While YOU're all about accusations and casting doubt on something that YOU know nothing about.

  • ~ As YOU accused Jan of wrongdoing!

  • ~ When Jan actually took a giant step in faith,

  • ~ to even share her precious testimony in YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB site!

  • ~ And what did she receive for all of her trouble, but a nasty email from YOU!

  • ~ Where YOU badgered her to reply immediately!

  • ~ And YOUR final act of cowardice was to cancel the memberships of we who took the time to answer YOU!

  • ~ As YOU, Michael James Montoya provided each of them, with YOUR expression of care:

  • ~ a NO LONGER A MEMBER, message, when trying to re-enter YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB site!

  • ~ After she took the time out of her busy life and sought to answer YOU!

  • ~ Your blatant rejection and YOUR fault finding, finger pointing, says much more about the damage that continues to reside in YOU!

    •
  • ~ Why would anyone want to share a testimony with one like YOU ~ who has no ear to even hear!?

    •
  • ~ One of the greatest blessings God extends to us is his listening ear!

  • ~ Would that YOU had even a tiny evidence of this blessing!

    •
  • ~ So, how have we offended YOU, other than answering YOUR "supposed interest" in our ministry, by giving YOU the statement of our faith!?

  • ~ Once again, Mike, YOUR comparisons are way off ~ just like YOU and YOUR judgments of us!

    • Act 10:38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

    Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.

    Lk 9:1 And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases,

    Lk 10:19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you.

    Act 6:4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word."

    Act 20:24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may accomplish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

    Act 21:19 After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

    2Co 4:1 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.

    2Co 5:18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;

    2Co 6:3 We put no obstacle in any one's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry,

    Eph 4:12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

    Col 4:17 And say to Archippus, "See that you fulfill the ministry which you have received in the Lord."

    2Ti 4:5 As for you, always be steady, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

    Tit 2:15 Declare these things; exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

    1Jn 3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who does right is righteous, as he is righteous.

    Rm 14:22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God; happy is he who has no reason to judge himself for what he approves.

    Heb 8:6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry which is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.


    Pro 18:2 ... takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.


  • ~ The record that you play in your own mind will continue!

    So I now extend for a 3rd or 4th time. Dave Simmons, will you in the next couple of days, field some questions from brethren here in order to make clear that your ministry is of God?


  • ~ See, just like I said Mike, it's the same old record:
  • ~ "I HAVE QUESTIONS, Dave Simmons!
  • ~ Don't ya see me over here, I'm waving my hand!
  • ~ I have very "powerful" questions, don'tcha know!
  • ~ Hey! Dave! Hey Tod! Aren't ya listenin' ta me?
  • ~ Can't ya see I NEEED You to answer me:
  • ~ but I haven't had a chance in the last three years or so to figure out what ta ask ya?
  • ~ Oh, and I don't trust anything that YOU or any of the members of your ministry testify to!
  • ~ BUT I'VE STILL GOT QUESTIONS!!!!!!"

  • ~ You'll sing the same old notes a few more lines down,

  • ~ by this time my dad would've said:

  • ~ "Look bud, poop or get off the pot ~ someone else needs the throne!"

  • ~ "Next couple of days!?"

  • ~ YOU posted this lovely letter after midnight, and on the same day around noon, YOU canceled memberships!!!

  • ~ YOU don't even keep your own word Michael James Montoya, born of the spirit!

  • ~ As my husband said to you, "If you have the spirit of God, than act like it."

  • ~ Our website provides an email address for any questions.

  • ~ So far we've gotten very little traffic, so no need for your moderation skills here.

  • ~ YOUR allotted extension of a couple of days,

  • ~ when you only had this post up from after midnight to noon the SAME day,

  • ~ when YOU swiftly cut off our opportunity to even view YOUR site,

  • ~ before anyone was even home from work that day, was deceptive!

  • ~ YOU accuse Dave of "not saying enough"

  • ~ yet YOU didn't even give him, nor Tod, nor Jan, nor Dan even one evening to reply,

  • ~ to something that YOU posted to us publicly!

  • ~ because the very same day at noon YOU canceled all four memberships,

  • ~ of all those who YOU were supposedly asking!!?

  • ~ Giving each of them a: NO LONGER A MEMBER, message: when they tried to log in!!!

    •
  • ~ How's that: giving them a couple of days!?

  • ~ How's that: welcoming one another, as Christ has welcomed YOU!?

  • ~ How's that: doing to the least of these, as YOU do to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior!?

    •
  • YOU, my dear moderator are MORE welcoming to:
  • ~ atheists,
  • ~ racists,
  • ~ slanderers,
  • ~ scoffers,
  • ~ fault finders,
  • ~ nay-sayers,
  • ~ those who "say they have questions" yet reject those who answer them,
  • ~ those who bear false witness,
  • ~ and the like!

  • For some very strange reason, YOU have an inability:
  • ~ to have an open ear ~ or an open heart ~ or a truthful extension of time to respond,
  • ~ toward ANYONE who was in Cobu ~ who has a different testimony THAN YOUR OWN!
  • ~ vet those conclusions ~ YOU "authority on ALL things xCobu!"

  • Dave and my post of "The Oil Blessing" was very clearly our first expression of what our ministry is all about,
  • ~ on YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB site, and
  • ~ on the Cobu Survivors site also,
  • ~ yet neither YOU, NOR them, had an ear to hear any of our testimonies!

  • ~ Then in this letter YOU still continued to extend that YOU have "questions"
  • ~ AS YOU cut off our ability to respond to YOU,
  • ~ AS YOU made it impossible for us to even see if anyone replied to our post
  • ~ when YOU canceled memberships!
  • ~ YOU my dear moderator, and "the blessed Survivors" ~ are simply incapable of having any honest communication skills!
  • ~ Sorry, in OUR experience, in YOUR and their treatment of US: we didn't see it at all!
  • ~ When you both gave a sister and three brothers, the: NO LONGER A MEMBER message!
  • ~ It was as if YOU, and all the "good Christians" on YOUR sites just "flipped us the bird!"
  • ~ When YOU say, "We have questions" and then slam the door in our face when we replied, that's just nasty!

    •
  • ~ Just as John wrote of those who "prated against him" and refused "to welcome the brethren"
  • ~ we say the same to YOU Michael, to those in your xCobu Yahoo CLUB, and to the blessed survivors:

    •
    3Jn 1:10 So if I come, I will bring up what (they are) doing, prating against me with evil words. And not content with that, (they) refuse to welcome the brethren, and also stop those who want to welcome them and put them out of the church.

    (or out of Mike Montoya's xCobu Yahoo CLUB or The Cobu Survivor's Club, as it were ~ that they "claim" is FOR xbooers to "reconnect!")

    3Jn 1:11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. He who does good is of God; he who does evil has not seen God.

  • ~ This is the verse directly after the previous one, where it refers to the way that YOU Mike treated us:
  • ~ prating against us!
  • ~ being unwelcoming!
  • ~ refusing us, because "we answered YOUR inquiry!"
  • ~ making a public challenge to us that we weren't able to respond to because we were blocked by YOU!
  • ~ preventing us from corresponding with YOU, as YOU act as though YOU want to engage us!
  • ~ preventing others of our fellowship from posting a public response to your "supposed" inquiry!
  • ~ refusing to allow us to correspond with those who were interested in having a dialog with us!
  • ~ and all of these behaviors reflect those who "imitate evil"
  • ~ so if this is what YOU are doing, it stands to reason that YOU are incapable of vetting anyone!



    • [def. club - an association or organization dedicated to a particular interest or activity. "The xCobu Yahoo group and Cobu Survivor's act as a club, when they state that they are for: "those who used to be in Cobu" but are actually only for those who have the same opinions currently."

    "To state that a website is exclusive to "those who had been in a particular group," yet excludes some who had been in that group: is misleading ~ it would be more honest to state that the website is a "club for those who have similar beliefs" so as not to hurt those who thought they were on a website that had people who would be open to hearing "where those who had been in Cobu and found a blessing outside of Cobu" and suddenly were given a:     NO LONGER A MEMBER, message, for simply sharing their personal testimony!"

    "To be suddenly "cast out" of a website that claims to assist those who had been in a "controlling cult" for simply sharing a current life-experience reminds me of those described in "Hinds' Feet on High Places" where the "Fearings" reside, a club where those inside are so "fearful" that they resort to "exclusion" without any conversation, does not appear to be a place of faith, or peace, or openness to reason, or growth, or even common courtesy."

    "Clubs are okay, especially if they state who they open their doors to in their "entry" ~ like: we only accept those who, I don't know, live in the correct sized xCobu box, and have nothing to do with: Living Water."

    "To be welcomed into a website club of those who "once upon a time were part of a group you were in" and to take a chance in faith, to share a blessing that you experienced when you prayed with others (who had also been in that exact same group), to only be immediately excluded, because you had the faith to share one of the greatest blessings of your life, like Jan did ~ is absolutely outrageous!
    synonyms: society, association, organization, institution, group, circle, band, body, ring, crew; alliance, league, union]

  • ~ consider how the scripture counsels Christians to be ~ that YOU claim yourself to be:

    • Rm 15:7 Welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

    2Co 6:17 Therefore come out from them, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean; then I will welcome you!

    Mt 25:40 And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'

    Jer 31:34 And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

    Eph 3:8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ...


  • Is not God able to give to his people ministries that differ one from another?

    •
  • Yet check out what Paul suffered in Galatians chapter 2, because his ministry differed from theirs.

    • Job 21:3 Bear with me, and I will speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.

    Job 36:2 "Bear with me a little, and I will show you, for I have yet something to say on God's behalf.

    2Co 11:1 I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me!

    Gal 2:11 But when Cephas came to Antioch I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.

    Gal 2:12 For before certain men came from James, he ate with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.

    Exo 20:16 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

    Deu 5:20 "'Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor.

    Pro 6:19 a false witness who breathes out lies, and a man who sows discord among brothers.

    Pro 12:17 He who speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness utters deceit.

    Pro 14:5 A faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness breathes out lies.

    Mk 14:56 For many bore false witness against him, and their witness did not agree.

    If you are unwilling then I will make the arrangements for you and Tod not to be here in the capacity of ministers.

  • None of us made such a request of you or your site.

    • Because this is how you see yourselves, but you have not behaved as ones who have met the test, then I am responsible (to) deny your access here.

  • ~ We never made this claim.

    •
  • ~ Who are YOU: Michael Montoya, to proclaim to US, on this public forum, how we SEE ourselves!?

    •
  • ~ Oh, and you've already denied access, but that's okay, you welcome us as you welcome Christ!

    • Rm 15:7 Welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

    Mt 25:40 And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'


    Thank you Mike.

    Thank you xCobu Yahoo CLUB.

    Thank you Cobu Survivors.

    It's nice to know that the way YOU've all treated us, is how YOU also treat Jesus, so revealing!

    I will not tolerate heresy here and I will not tolerate false teaching or false shepherds. If you are not guilty then you have nothing to fear, if you are zealous for what's right.

    If you have erred then there are brethren here who have been given wisdom by God and are trained in the scriptures to correct you with gentleness.


  • ~ According to YOU Mike, YOUR "gentleness" is giving us a: NO LONGER A MEMBER, message,

  • ~ when we kindly answered YOUR inquiry about our prayer ministry!

  • ~ Then YOU and YOUR "trained in the scriptures" friends "expressed your gentleness" further in this lovely "Kiss-Off letter!"

  • ~ If this "expression of gentleness" is the best that YOU can do to assure us "not to fear"

  • ~ than I agree with John's original assessment: that you do indeed: act like a punk bully!

  • ~ And my husband fielded this comment quite well already, listing what you and others on your site "do tolerate."

    •
  • ~ Let's take a look at some of glorious ways Michael James Montoya, born of the spirit has conducted himself towards LW:

  • ~ YOU said "YOU and others had questions about our ministry" on YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB site,
  • ~ in response: we gave YOU our "Statement of Faith => The Oil Blessing"
  • ~ also in response: Jan gave you her personal "Story of Freedom" testimony.
  • ~ YOU accused us of using YOUR website to promote our ministry ~ which is a lie!
  • ~ YOU equated a beautiful testimony of being relieved of the deep heart and mind wounds received in COBU,
  • ~ a testimony of the Lord our God comforting one who sought him, in her distress,
  • ~ as being "the same as" a disciple of Stewart Traill giving their support to ST ~ another lie!
  • ~ YOU canceled Jan's membership to YOUR website after she: "responded to YOUR interest" by sharing her experience with YOU!
  • ~ YOU emailed Jan, demanding that she answer YOU immediately!
  • ~ YOU accused Jan of "writing her testimony at Dave's request" with an assumption of wrongdoing in YOUR tone!
  • ~ An accusation made by YOU that had NO merit, because Jan wrote on YOUR site after reading:
  • ~ that YOU and others in YOUR CLUB were interested in our Living Water Ministry,
  • ~ a testimony she has the ability to testify to because she's been praying with us for 26 years!
  • ~ YOU made a false assumption in anger, which is how YOU came across to Jan in YOUR email to her.
  • ~ YOU prevented Jan from being able to reply on YOUR xCobu club site when YOU canceled her membership.
  • ~ YOU prevented Jan from being able to view what others may have written to her in YOUR CLUB.
  • ~ YOU effectively "flipped Jan the bird" when she tried to log onto YOUR site and she got: NO LONGER A MEMBER from YOU!
  • ~ YOU asked about our ministry which prompted Jan, Dan, Dave and I to give our LW testimonies, yet,
  • ~ YOU denied Dan Cooper from sharing his own personal testimony with those in YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB,
  • ~ YOU effectively "flipped Dan the bird" with YOUR: NO LONGER A MEMBER message
  • ~ YOU wouldn't even ALLOW Dan to write a POST about the blessings God extended to him through our prayer ministry.
  • ~ YOU write this kiss-off letter to us publicly on YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB site,
  • ~ YOU lied when YOU said we'd have 2 days to reply,
  • ~ YOU cut them all off before anyone even got home from work to even see YOUR POST!
  • ~ YOU wrote YOUR lovely kiss-off letter after midnight, and canceled memberships at NOON!
  • ~ YOU deceptively make a CHALLENGE, that YOU knew none of us could even see!
  • ~ YOU deceptively made a CHALLENGE, that YOU knew none of us could even reply to!
  • ~ YOU make ULTIMATUMS that the average person would not even be online to view!
  • ~ YOU made ULTIMATUMS between 1 am and 12:00 NOON on a weekday!
  • ~ YOU ask questions of us then within 11 hours gave 4 of us a: NO LONGER A MEMBER, message,
  • ~ YOU effectively "flipped Dave the bird" with YOUR: NO LONGER A MEMBER message,
  • ~ when all he did was respond to YOU and gave YOUR website a clear description of our prayer ministry!
  • ~ YOU effectively "flipped Tod the bird" with YOUR: NO LONGER A MEMBER message,
  • ~ when he patiently answered questions on YOUR xCobu CLUB site for two whole weeks,
  • ~ and was an active participant in YOUR CLUB for over 7 years, with established relationships,
  • ~ and even respected YOUR unwritten "xCobu law" of not speaking about the prayer ministry he's been part of for 26 years!
  • ~ He even received Nancy C's commendation for "Not talking about LW" and didn't "seek converts" on YOUR CLUB site!
  • ~ YOU think that making someone keep what matters to them to themselves is good ethics, when it's really a very stifled environment!
  • ~ YOU cancel 4 LW memberships to YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB without any warning, which according to YOU, was extended to others!
  • ~ YOU violated YOUR own "rules of conduct" by not giving us any "warning" of YOUR kicking them OUT of YOUR CLUB!
  • ~ YOU made it impossible for US to reply to YOU openly on YOUR site when YOU wrote YOUR letter publicly!
  • ~ Within YOUR kiss-off letter YOU accuse US: of "not being open" after we provided "Our Statement of Faith => The Oil Blessing!
  • ~ YOU speak publicly against brothers who YOU don't speak to personally!
  • ~ YOU publicly speak against a man's character, who YOU don't even know!
  • ~ YOU publicly state that a man is NOT FORTHRIGHT ~ when HE is a most open, godly and tenderhearted soul!
  • ~ YOU publicly pontificate for days on Cobu stories that we need to be Vetted by YOU ~ for a position already obtained!
  • ~ YOU accuse Jan of wrongdoing, when all she did was reply to YOU by sharing her own LW experiences!
  • ~ YOU demand immediate replies to condemning and accusatory emails!
  • ~ YOU accuse!
  • ~ YOU threaten!
  • ~ Then YOU canceled our memberships to YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB, because we replied to YOUR inquiry!
  • ~ YOU do wrong then turn around and cast blame!
  • ~ YOU make baseless accusations!
  • ~ YOU make continual judgments!
  • ~ YOU bear false witness against a brother and the calling he was given by God!
  • ~ YOU publicly campaign against a brother and those he prays with privately!
  • ~ YOU seek to injure a mans reputation!
  • ~ YOU insult a man who did YOU no wrong!
  • ~ YOU seek to debate with a man who has no interest in waring with YOU!
  • ~ YOU try to re-write the events that actually occurred!
  • ~ There's more, but as Tod has said ~ I get tired of pointing out: YOUR inconsistencies that challenge peace.


  • ~ I'll just add that at the time of your letter, we read various posts that many of you made on xCobu Yahoo CLUB site
  • ~ before our memberships were canceled around noon on January 4th, 2011.
  • ~ If you go back to that time, maybe you'll see your xCobu site as I did at the time.
  • ~ I remember making the comment that your site:
  • ~ seemed to me like a "dirty sandbox."
  • ~ Chris's slanderous comments.
  • ~ Rejection, also seemed to be a big theme.
  • ~ You're still into rejection, just like Cobu:
  • ~ As you rejected Dave, you rejected Jesus.
  • ~ As you rejected Tod, you rejected Jesus.
  • ~ As you rejected Jan, you rejected Jesus.
  • ~ As you rejected Dan, you rejected Jesus.

  • ~ As you did it to ONE of the least of these: US, you did it also to me: Jesus said.

    If you both were here simply to fellowship or talk then there would not be an issue.


  • ~ Mike, this is just a bold faced lie!

    •
  • ~ Jan Hilton, after YOUR inquiry, offered her very personal testimony of her own experiences and YOU rejected her!

  • ~ Dan Cooper, asked YOU directly if he could write his own personal experience and YOU wanted no part of it!

  • ~ They each: just wanted to "fellowship" and "talk" about their blessings ~ but that was:

  • ~ UNACCEPTABLE to YOU, and to those in YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB!!!

  • ~ Nancy C even wrote that Tod wasn't "seeking converts."

  • ~ Because we don't seek converts!

  • ~ This was one of the biggest conflicts that Chris B had with LW, because ALL his Cobu training was about: "chasing people!"


  • ~ Nancy's comments about: our fellowship being: "religious malarkey" ~ thanks for cutting what you know nothing about.


  • ~ Her other comment: "Sounds like Jim didn't get a bottle of olive oil running down his beard forcibly when Tod stopped by"

  • ~ seemed harsh and inappropriate,
  • ~ about something that the Lord God counseled us to do,
  • ~ that has brought blessings to us and many others,
  • ~ and I for one didn't appreciate her mock.

  • ~ We don't insist on our own way,

  • ~ but YOUR post Mike, is quite insistent toward us!

  • ~ The parallels between the way YOU've conducted YOURself toward us and the way Stewart portrayed himself, are alarmingly similar!

  • ~ I'll copy Nancy C's entire post below, so it can be "TESTED for clarity."


  • ~ Interesting to note: that NONE of YOU had any concern: about Chris's treatment of us!

  • ~ Oh, I forgot, according to you:
  • ~ it's okay to insult and slander,
  • ~ scoff and mock,
  • ~ belittle and make false assumptions,
  • ~ cut a brother,
  • ~ and his faith,
  • ~ and his ministry,
  • ~ and his calling,
  • ~ and his family,
  • ~ and his friends, etc.

  • ~ I don't know about you, but that is a very ugly place to live:

  • ~ that's why I thought YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB was like a dirty sandbox:

  • ~ ya know, you wouldn't let your little ones play in it because it's got cat feces in it!

  • ~ I guess YOU guys are "OUT of COBU", but "IT might not be OUT of YOU!!!"

  • ~ I just thought the POST was nasty, but that's just my perspective.

  • ~ Someone said that your xCobu Yahoo site has very little action these days Mike,

  • ~ some brothers spoke to Dave about how the vile spirit there just got to be a bit much and wasn't helpful: to THEIR journeys.

  • ~ As much as we have made issue of: YOUR, the COBU Survivors and YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB's:
  • ~ "lack of Christian welcome,"
  • ~ "blatant rejection for no apparent reason" and
  • ~ "the lack of inquiry into the false charges leveled against us:" by Mr. Christopher Scott Blaise,
  • ~ the truth is: we would have signed out on our own, as it seems many have already.

    •  Because your ministry and some of your supporters are now here, I will not bypass this ultimatum of testing for the sake of a few testimonials.


  • ~ Do YOU mean, your ultimatum of discontinuing the membership of Dave, Tod, Jan, and Dan?
  • ~ Ya been there, and ya done that!

  • ~ Wow, we didn't realize how powerful:
  • ~ our "Blessing of the Oil,"
  • ~ one xCobu sisters testimony,
  • ~ and the possibility of another xCobu brother writing his testimony,
  • ~ actually put such fear in: YOU,
  • ~ and those in YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB,
  • ~ that you felt compelled to reflect your true nature: COLD!

    •
  • ~ It's cold to kick someone to the curb the way you did, right or wrong?

  • ~ We are so very sorry Michael,
  • ~ that YOU, those in YOUR xCobu CLUB, and the Cobu Survivors:
  • ~ have no ear, for the few who've had the freedom to overcome the many voices of doubt,
  • ~ of which YOU have also contributed,
  • ~ and had the peace to pray and receive a measure of God's comfort,
  • ~ and had the audacity to post about it!

  • ~ Is this such a fearsome thing?

  • ~ The idea that some xbooers like:
  • ~ Dave Simmons, Cynthia Simmons, Tod Burros, and a few others,
  • ~ had the nerve: to post about the blessings they received from God?!

  • ~ It is obvious to us that your fears will continue to lead,
  • ~ and that faith has no place in the hearts, of those:
  • ~ who are already undone and content to hold fast to: "the old ways" that have made their years: "so blessed."

    • 1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and he who fears is not perfected in love.
    Mt 9:13 Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."
    Gal 4:16 Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?
    Mt 5:44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
    Mt 5:46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?

    We ex-members have been fooled and burned by a false christ and a false teacher. I do not want to be responsible for any here being led astray again.


  • ~ I know that you're the "moderator" of YOUR very own xCobu Yahoo CLUB ~ but in this last little comment you seem to be taking on a bit much ~ I mean, ARE YOU THEIR DADDY!?

  • ~ And yes, we understand that fear can be very paralyzing, but why, oh why does it seem that every single thing that you write has a this awful whinny undertone? Right or wrong!?

  • ~ Yahoo CLUB? ~ Did you all weigh in and vote that this should come down?

    •
  • ~ You mentioned that you had "assistance" in the drafting of this "wonderful" epitaph, so perhaps it's not "all YOUR fault"
  • ~ let's give some credit to "YOUR Co-writers" for all their "wonderful influence here!

  • ~ I'm getting it though Mike:
  • ~ Why YOU deleted THIS PARTICULAR MISSIVE in under 12 hours
  • ~ Or was it that YOU just deleted us from YOUR site 12 hours after writting this page!
  • ~ and had to kick us to the curb,
  • ~ but, you're "safe now,"
  • ~ we're no longer "in YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB"
  • ~ to share what our ministry is about with YOU,
  • ~ or to try to: share our experiences,
  • ~ or to answer your many questions,
  • ~ in the imparticular way that you don't really care for.

  • We get it Mike:
  • ~ you don't like our flavor of faith,
  • ~ and we're not really into: "clowns" or "court jesters,"
  • ~ the "Big Top: Master of Ceremonies,"
  • ~ or even those who do "stand-up" for the crowd!

  • It's okay ~ you got your: xCobu Yahoo CLUB,
  • ~ and we grippers, we got ours ~ we're okay with that ~
  • ~ Ask some of your buddies ~ we grippers don't chase nobody ~

  • Oops, except, just those two times:
  • ~ when some of our old friends,
  • ~ seemed to have "unresolved issues"
  • ~ ya know: we knew they had something against us,
  • ~ so we left our gift at the alter,
  • ~ and tried to have a conversation,
  • ~ we knocked on the door,
  • ~ but nobody was home.
  • ~ They told us later that "they weren't ready!"

  • ~ Yet he always seemed ready to cut us down and chew us out publicly on YOUR xCobu Yahoo site quite frequently at the time!
  • ~ Something else that you and Chris have in common!
  • ~ You just can't seem to be able to leave us alone on Cobu Stories, can ya Mike!

    •
  • ~ What is it that YOU find so irresistible about taking shots at we who are LW?

  • ~ Is it so unusual that a few people get together to pray for each other that irritates you so deeply!?

  • ~ Or is it our willingness to expose the lies of Stewart Traill and the Cobu cult we all used to be part of?

    •
  • ~ To read the lies of Stewart Traill and Cobu that we've been able to identify: (Click here).

  • ~ So, what's the big beef that you've got against us?

  • ~ Really Mike, what's YOUR problem with us?

  • ~ YOU say: "We ex-members have been fooled and burned by a false Christ and a false teacher.

  • ~ I do not want to be responsible for any here being led astray again."

  • ~ So, what does this have to do with us?

    •
  • ~ We've given YOU and YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB: Our Statement of Faith => The Oil Blessing

  • ~ where we make very clear that we put no obligations on anyone ever.

  • ~ Most of those who've received the blessing of oil and prayers, it's been a "one time thing."

  • ~ A "one time thing" that YOU and most of those in YOUR xCobu CLUB aren't interested in anyway, according to OUR email in-box!

  • ~ If you'd like to read some of the definitions we've been able to come up with of the sayings we used in Cobu: (Click here).

  • ~ And if you can think of other "Cobu Definitions" please send them to us at: info@freefromthegrip.com

  • ~ So Michael, what's YOUR obsession with us?

    •
    1Pe 3:15 but in your hearts reverence Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you...
    Ps 120:7 I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war!
    Mt 24:44 Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
    Gal 5:26 Let us have no self-conceit, no provoking of one another, no envy of one another.

  • Seriously though Mike, if underneath all the "blather" you really do care
  • ~ and I "pegged you all wrong,"
  • ~ from the way YOU've been writing,
  • ~ all these "lengthy diatribes,"
  • ~ on why: "we grippers,"
  • ~ shouldn't do what we're doing,
  • ~ (we know that you didn't mention any names,
  • ~ but we got your drift ~ thanks for the "counsel"),

  • ~ but: Guess what!?

  • ~ YOU GET AN OUT:

    •
    Heb 8:11 And they shall not teach every one his fellow or every one his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest.

  • ~ Isn't this great!
  • ~ You can know God exactly how you see him,
  • ~ and WE CAN TOO!!!

  • ~ Win, Win, right!!
  • ~ Just like in any family:
  • ~ You do stand-up,
  • ~ I have my own version,
  • ~ God loves you just the way you are,
  • ~ and he loves me too!
  • ~ In all our finest splendor,
  • ~ and even when we let our hair down,
  • ~ and just say, "This is really, really, bothering me!!!"

  • Like my son always says, "It's really great that the Lord God has a million ears, because we all need to be heard!"

  • And the thing my husband loves to quote, that God challenged him:
  • ~ "Stress Me IF YOU CAN!!"
  • ~ And that's the amazing thing that I love about God
  • ~ we can stress him till we're blue in the face,
  • ~ and he just keeps on saying:
  • ~ Keep talkin' I'm listening!
  • ~ I hear you!
  • ~ I want ta help you!
  • ~ I know you got troubles,
  • ~ bring 'em on down!

  • I'm sorry you have a thing about:
  • ~ xCobu people ministering to each other,
  • ~ but the truth is we're a pretty unique crowd,
  • ~ and most of our friends have found that their local church on the corner,
  • ~ wasn't able to assist,
  • ~ in their particular complication of faith,
  • ~ I mean, we were put through the ringer!

  • ~ Not that I have anything against Church Christians,
  • ~ you see, because I was a Church Christian,
  • ~ and one of my favorite sisters: Grace Cooper is a proud Church Christian,
  • ~ who loves Jesus so much that her faith amazes me!

  • ~ Shout out to you, my dear sister Grace! Happy Birthday!! Another September birth ~ there are so many!

  • ~ Check out my little neice Sarah on YouTube @ "We believe" by Sarah (Jim W)" singing at church, just like I did when I was 8 years old!

  • ~ As I said, the churches on the corner have their place, but remember:
  • ~"We were zealots,
  • ~ who didn't even know grace and peace,
  • ~ because daddy Stewart: never knew Jesus" ~ and there you have it.

  • ~ Well, I know you're a writer Mike ~ and that can be a type of therapy,
  • ~ heck, I've been typing all night and I'm going to close now,
  • ~ take a shower and get some rest.
  • ~ The rest of this letter I completed earlier tonight,
  • ~ and this is my final "insert"
  • ~ don't hate the grippers,
  • ~ we're your brothers and sisters too!

  • ~ Dave just got two posts on Facebook:
  • ~ one of the parents, of one of the really smart young students,
  • ~ he had 4 or 5 years ago, just wrote to wish my Dave, a happy birthday!

  • ~ Ya see, Dave's birthday is in September too! His is the 14th!

  • ~ His former student was a 7th grader who got hit by a car,
  • ~ and he really loved experimenting with cooking,
  • ~ if he finished all his work,
  • ~ Dave would let him fool around with tough assignments like:
  • ~ making red velvet cake from scratch ~ now that's a challenge!

  • ~ We wouldn't have had the freedom to do that in the church of our youth, now would we?

  • ~ It's great to be "Free from the Grip" :
  • ~ of no personal interests,
  • ~ of no freedom to have pets,
  • ~ of no freedom to go see our families whenever we wanted,
  • ~ of no freedom to date,
  • ~ no friends "outside the group"
  • ~ Dave and I have friends in every corner of our town! Life is good! God is great!

  • ~ I'm fiercely protective of those who I love!
  • ~ I guess being zealous counts for something!

    •
  • ~ When we met with the elderly gentleman, Stephen Kaung,
  • ~ who was the bi-lingual translator,
  • ~ friend and confidant between Watchman Nee and the American speaking world,

  • ~ as he shared his incredible insights into what we had experienced.

  • ~ (to read what Stephen Kaung spoke to us: (Click here).

  • ~ This man was so incredibly excellent in dignity and profoundly insightful,

  • ~ an honored guest speaker,

  • ~ staying in the home of a pastor of a huge congregation,

  • ~ and after he spoke personally to we from Cobu, who shared what we had been through,

  • ~ the things that I recorded and then transcribed and typed up,

  • ~ there were many who jockeyed for his attention in the large gathering we sat among.

  • ~ Yet Mr. Stephen Kaung, neglecting these other many notable guests, walked over to Dave and I

  • ~ As we sat and were quietly considering all of the things that we had just heard him speak,

  • ~ he approached my dear husband Dave and gestured to him, and said, "Come, walk with me, I have much to tell you."

  • ~ It was an incredible moment, with an incredibly dignified person of spirit and character,

  • ~ much like the Reverend Richard Wurmbrand would be treated in a similar situation.

  • ~ Yet I can say that this was only one of many instances,

  • ~ that I've witnessed my husband being treated with honor by the honorable.

  • ~ None of us even indicated to Mr. Stephen Kaung anything about "who Dave is"

  • ~ as this was long before the Lord our God even counseled him to offer "The Oil Blessing"

  • ~ Dave was "just one of the Cobu survivors" who happened to meet with this gentleman, on this occasion.

  • ~ When we considered later, how he singled Dave out and gave him personal, and private counsel,

  • ~ it added to our own understanding that God himself had plans for Dave, which he later revealed,

  • ~ and which YOU and Chris and some others, have taken it upon themselves to throw stones at, curse, and belittle, though:
  • ~ My husband is the kindest, most easy to speak to, gentleman,

  • ~ that many back in Cobu and for as long as I've known him, have easily opened up to him,
  • ~ so that I am absolutely lost for words to explain to you,

  • ~ how shameful it is the way that you seem to take liberties in your public judgments and vile words that you've spoken of him.

  • ~ A smarter man would be ashamed, that's all I can say.


    • From Wikipedia: Stephen Kaung is a Chinese Christian speaker and writer in Richmond, Virginia.

    At an early age, Kaung was converted to Christianity and was active in the Methodist Church in China, with whom his father was a minister.

    He first met Watchman Nee in the early 1930s and joined Nee's indigenous Christian work full-time, working with him until 1949 when he left China and became involved with Christian work in other areas of the Far East.

    In 1952, Kaung moved to New York City where he joined a Little Flock assembly composed mainly of Chinese immigrants and returned missionaries. This group desired to put into practice the church-pattern taught by Watchman Nee in China, and wished for Kaung to help them. Several years later, some controversy arose among the group, and they split into two.

    Following this, Kaung moved to San Francisco to join another church there.

    In 1958 Kaung traveled with Witness Lee to Europe and the Middle East, en route to Taiwan. However, he agreed with Lee's suggestion that he return to New York and went back to the United States.

    In 1971, Kaung moved from New York to Washington D.C., but periodically returned to the New York group to speak.

    Author of many books of his own, including: "Discipled to Christ", "The Splendor of His Ways", "Seeing Christ in the New Testament", "The Songs of Degrees: Meditations on the Fifteen Psalms" and many more noted books that have received 4 and 5 stars by reviewers.

  • ~ Note: Most of the writings of Watchman Nee that were written in English are co-authored by Stephen Kaung (translator), so without Stephen Kaung's translations we would not have been able to read the works of Watchman Nee.



  • ~ Interesting to note that in the early days of your website Mike, Dave offered the transcript of our informal meeting,

  • ~ with this celebrated man of God, yet you took it down from your site early on.

  • ~ Would that you understood the depth of this esteemed and most insightful man,

  • ~ who it was our honor to not only be granted the audience he gave us,

  • ~ but to hear the wisdom that he expressed.

  • ~ He was basically saying that the depth of the wounds that we experienced in Cobu,

  • ~ are the type that are extremely difficult to free oneself from.

  • ~ This has been proven, not only through a few who we have had little success in extending any long lasting healing to,

  • ~ due to the degree and the depth of the bondage, to the teaching and beliefs of Stewart Traill and Cobu, that we also were all once subject to,

  • ~ but even Well Springs and other deprogramming and healing institutions and ministries, have also clearly stated:

  • ~ that Cobu in particular, has been one of the most difficult cults,

  • ~ to be able to successfully help those who had been there: to become free from.


  • ~ Yet, YOU Michael James Montoya claimed that Stephen Kaung's counsel "didn't apply" because "he wasn't in Cobu!"

  • ~ Here again, is another contradiction of YOURs, as YOU've also stated that xboos shouldn't minister to each other!

  • ~ Like I said earlier, YOU're all about rejection!

  • ~ YOU reject the counsel of an elderly man of God, filled with wisdom and insight, saying:

  • ~ He couldn't possibly instruct or counsel anyone because he wasn't IN our group!

  • ~ AT the very same time, YOU state that xboos shouldn't minister to each other!

  • ~ As YOU reject the love and care and spirit filled prayers, that have brought healing to many, between the xboos I know and pray with!

  • ~ As Tod Burros spoke of YOU:

  • ~ that YOU express so many contradictions and YOUR message is so full of holes,

  • ~ Swiss Cheese laughs at YOUR conclusions!

  • ~ So, YOU Michael, in "all YOUR wisdom" removed this transcript that we sent to YOU very early on, from YOUR xCobu Angelfire website,

  • ~ though, YOU kept many other religious posts, comments, and statements that others sent in.


  • ~ When Stephen Kaung's insight and thorough description, which was specific to the time period of Cobu,

  • ~ and to the extremely overwhelming infiltration that Cobu and Stewart Traill's teaching,

  • ~ and the all consuming nature, that filled each of us so very utterly,

  • ~ he granted us "his counsel" in how one "might be freed" from this grip!


  • ~ It is our belief that unless one truly "sees the depth of its consumption"

  • ~ AND receives the power and wisdom of how to effectively pray,

  • ~ to give each of the curses of Stewart Traill and Cobu up to God,

  • ~ when one recognizes them,

  • ~ one cannot be fully released from its captivity!


  • ~ Oh to be cleansed from the filth of its stench!

  • ~ Would that the malignant message of Stewart Traill that clings to the souls,

  • ~ of those of us, who have been swallowed up by it, might be thoroughly removed!


  • ~ and if the Cobu message was not one that has clearly clung to so many, than:

  • ~ Why would there even be a need for:

  • ~ Cobu Stories,

  • ~ xCobu Yahoo CLUB's,

  • ~ Cobu Survivors,

  • ~ COBU,

  • ~ xCobu Reunions, or even our own beloved:

  • ~ Free from the Grip, expressions ~ if ALL "were Healed" or had the ability to "truly move on!?"


    •
  • ~ If anyone would like to read the transcript of our informal meeting with Stephen Kaung just: (click here)


  • ~ I thank God and my Lord Jesus Christ for their love in the many grips they have helped me to get free from.

  • ~ Would that YOU Mike, had the sense to know how little you show yourself to be when you act so coldly toward my husband Dave,

  • ~ whose only interest is in seeing some, get some relief and some freedom and some peace.

  • ~ Perhaps you would do well not to throw stones at or hurl your negative opinions against his character,

  • ~ who is respected and has shown himself to be a man of integrity, with a testimony of peace,

  • ~ that has actually benefited many, as I have had the privilege to witness throughout the time of our ministry.

    • [def. character - the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual.
    "Dave Simmons has always shown himself to be a man of dignity, a man sought for his insights, a man of exceptional character and one who has shown himself to be above reproach."
    synonyms: personality, nature, disposition, temperament, temper, mentality, makeup; features, qualities, properties, traits; spirit, essence, identity, ethos, complexion, tone, feel, feeling]


    We must test all things. If you do not want to be tested I will give you a final email for you to invite this whole list to join you on your own list or web site or call you or write you.

    By then they will know what you are, either by your response or lack thereof.

    Mike Montoya


    Once again Mike, YOU are all about judgment!

    Who do YOU think YOU are making bold claims of what influences what others think?!

    Who do YOU think YOU are manipulating the impressions of others?!

    Who do YOU think YOU are putting our ministry in YOUR spot light?!

    Who do YOU think YOU are making much of our prayer ministry on YOUR CLUB site!?

    Who do YOU think YOU are challenging us to answer YOUR questions and then canceling memberships preventing conversations!?

    Who do YOU think YOU are making a pretense of interest in our ministry,

  • ~ when YOUR true intention was to poke at we who answered the call of God!?

  • ~ when YOUR true intention was to provoke we who answered the call of God!?

  • ~ when YOUR true intention was to prevent any who could actually testify to "testing" our ministry for themselves!?

  • ~ when YOUR true intention was to manipulate those on YOUR site to think ill of us!?

  • ~ when YOUR true intention has been more than questionable!?

    •

    ~ So Mike, in the last three words of the post YOU addressed to US in YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB YOU reveal YOURSELF:

    ~ when YOU wrote that OUR LACK of a RESPONSE to YOUR post would PROVE whether or NOT we would SUBMIT to YOUR test ~

    ~ when YOU KNEW that YOU PLANNED to cancel our MEMBERSHIPS making it IMPOSSIBLE for any of US to even reply!

    ~ YOU addressed us PUBLICLY, but made it impossible for us to make a PUBLIC RESPONSE on YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB site to YOUR post to US!!

    Therefore, it would appear to those in YOUR CLUB that we had disregarded your kiss-off letter, that YOU posted to us.

    How very unChristian of YOU!


    This is mischief.


    Job 15:35 They conceive mischief and bring forth evil and their heart prepares deceit."
    Ps 7:14 Behold, the wicked man conceives evil, and is pregnant with mischief, and brings forth lies.
    Pro 24:2 for their minds devise violence, and their lips talk of mischief.
    Pro 24:8 He who plans to do evil will be called a mischief-maker.

    In closing Michael, I will only add that our ministry is very personal in nature, since we are a prayer ministry.

    Each persons experience is unique and individual.

    We do not disclose anyone who has come to receive an oil blessing, yet I can say that close to 75 former Cobu brethren have had the faith to come forth to receive this blessing of the oil poured over their heads and received prayers for the healing of the hurts of their hearts, from wounds incurred: especially in Cobu.

    Some of those have received this blessing more than once, when the need arose.

    We have also extended this blessing of the oil and prayers to at least 25 who never even knew Cobu, but had been wounded in other areas.

    When the Lord God of Hosts and the Lord Jesus Christ answered a prayer, our own prayer, of how: we could be a blessing to those who we knew were wounded, it is amazing the power that has gone forth, in answer to our own heart felt prayers!

    Although when we read the things that YOU post, we can only wonder how peaceful your own heart is, but that is between you and the Lord God himself.

    We have had many close xCobu friends over the years, who we had relationships with, who knew about our ministry, but were not interested in receiving the blessing of the oil and some did not want to pray either, though our son was friends with their children and we did not pressure any of them, in any way, at any time.


    Lk 5:31-32 And Jesus answered them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have not come to call the (self-) righteous, but sinners to repentance."
    Mt 9:12-13 But when he heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."
    Lk 18:9, 14 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others... for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."
    1Ti 1:5 ..whereas the aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith.
    1Ti 1:19 By rejecting conscience, certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith...

    Many times Mike, you have claimed that we "need your xCobu site" because that is where all the xCobu brothers and sisters are ~ and that "you" are who our ministry is for.

    Yet we have said, "No Mike, you have no need for our ministry." and there are many on your site that don't have the need for our ministry because they are "healed."

    Our ministry is for those who are "not healed" those "who need a blessing" and "those who are hurting" because someone said "he knew Jesus" when he really just "missed grace," or "missed Jesus, full of grace and truth."

    Because Cobu did not reflect the true nature of our Lord and Savior Jesus, because ALL were baptized into Stewart Traill. In every sense of the word: his teaching, his concepts, his view on life, his skepticism of other Christians. Go and learn what this means.

    In order to take this challenge: to go and learn, it takes humility ~ something sorely lacking in the church of our youth. Some, like I believe you have, take great offense at even the idea that you might need to "go and learn" anything!

    Yet this is what our fellowship is: we really are into: "going and learning what Jesus meant when he said: I desire mercy and not sacrifice!"

    Our ministry is for those who are really interested in getting to know the Jesus we've read about, but never saw witnessed in those who were our "spiritual leaders" in the church of our youth: Cobu.

    And we have no problem being a fellowship of only a few.

    Our ministry is for those who have the need and not for those who "are already filled."


    1Co 4:10 We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute.


  • So, as Jesus said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician"

  • Although there are many who actually do have need of a physician:

  • Some have a need for a blessing, and have the faith to ask for one!

  • Some who've prayed with us have been blessed, and just leave with a smile on their face and in their hearts, and it is our prayer that their smiles remain!

  • Though we have a present enemy and doubters and nay-sayers and pooh-poohers who want to place a "label" on a blessing of God!

  • My faith is not "religious malarkey" or any other slight or slander, Nancy C!

  • We have never forced anyone to do anything ever!

  • That's a Cobu thing, ya know, like forcing someone who received entrance to your site right out the door! Like you did Mike!

  • All I can say is that some who have had wounds, have found relief in the place of hurt, comfort in the place of pain:

  • The ability to go to sleep and wake up in peace can be awesome for someone who didn't have that ability before, like some who've prayed with us!

  • The ability to read the Bible, God's Holy Word, without intense feelings of guilt, accusation, or other voices of condemnation, may not mean a whole lot to you, but did mean a whole lot to those who received that blessing, when they prayed with us!

  • The ability to actually know the relief and have confidence that Jesus forgave sin, may not mean anything to you, but it meant something to the ones who received it, when they prayed with us!

  • To be able to have an ear open to hear the interpretation of tongues, may not mean anything to you, but it may have meant something to the one who received it, when they prayed with us!

  • To have the condemning voice that's been whispering in someones heart and ear, saying over and over: "You're not a good mother!" or "You're not a good father!" removed from them for good, may not mean anything to you, but it meant a lot to those who received it, when they prayed with us!

  • Some suffered with the oppression of demonic spirits, and were relieved of them!

  • A woman was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in 2005 and after surgery was told by her doctors that her best life expectancy was probably only 1 or 2 years at best! Our dear sister has not only survived 9 years beyond her doctors educated counsel, but she continues as the head nurse of the ICU of a renowned NYC hospital for all these many years to this day! Now, according to you Michael, Cobu brethren "shouldn't minister to one another" yet we have been praying with her xCobu husband and their family since 1987, and though it may not mean anything to you that blessings and healings have gone forth, I believe that it has meant a lot to this dear sister, her husband, their sons, their families, and especially to we who daily lift her up in our prayers!

  • A woman gives birth to her baby months too early, in the hallway of a hospital, all by herself, with no way to contact the medical staff, she so desperately needed, and her newborn needed to have a tracheotomy incision in order to breath, and sensors attached because unable to cry he needed to be heard ~ and many who have been born under 2 lbs don't thrive as this one did, who received months and years of our prayers in faith!

  • This one who is now in college and thankful to have received a blessing of oil and prayers of faith!

  • To see a man on his death bed, suddenly have his blood pressure rise to sustain his life, may not mean anything to you, but it meant a lot to we who prayed for his recovery!

  • To see a man who was unconscious for a whole week, and to stand at his bedside knowing that if he didn't come out of his unconscious state, that he might not, but to pray for his consciousness to return and to see him stir and speak his first garbled word, may not mean anything to you, but it meant the world to we who prayed for him!

  • When an infant was burning up with fever and the liquid Tylenol and cool baths did nothing to knock it out, when hands were laid on this little one and the fever left him, it may not mean a lot to you, but it meant a lot to us and the parents of this little one.

  • When a sister felt oppressed and stressed and attacked every time she tried to sleep and through our prayers and anointing oil, this sister received comfort and peace, this may not mean a lot to you, but it meant a lot to her and to we who prayed for her.

  • When a young woman, the daughter of our xCobu brethren, had an oppressive fear that her fianc�e' might die, but when she prayed with one of us, the deep fear that he had no idea about, was suddenly lifted from her and she jumped up and hugged this brother in her great joy, with tears and revealed her blessing and the comfort of her heart ~ might not mean anything to you, but it meant a great deal to this young woman, and the brother who prayed for her!

  • When a brother and sister kept sticking verbal pins in one another and picking on each other, like the voices they learned in the church of our youth, and we prayed that God would take this compulsion to act hurtful toward each other away from them, and to see God answer our prayers and this couple become more loving to each other, might not mean anything to you, but it meant a lot to them and to we who prayed on their behalf!

  • To witness a man who was like a "ghost of his former self" who had an inability to trust in the forgiveness of sins, to have a mighty awakening, that was so dramatic that his sons were overwhelmed with his transformation, likening it to the visual change seen in the movie: "The Lord of the Rings" when Gandolf the White, cast out the wizard who had possessed the King! His sons were absolutely amazed! They felt as though "they never even knew" their own father! A man who had always stayed in the background and barely mumbled anything, was suddenly filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, was bright eyed, smiling all the time, and pumping his fist in the air, at the loving kindness that he received from the Lord our God! This amazing, obvious, visual, transformation may not mean anything to you, but it meant a lot to us, this man, his wife, and his sons, who on seeing his healing and blessing, also wanted prayer and an oil blessing for themselves too!

  • A homeless, discouraged Cobu brother after meeting with LW for weekly prayers and the anointing with oil, today is a married father with a lovely home and stable income.

  • A young man suffered from a drug induced psychotic break, that medication did not grant recovery from, but after much prayer and anointing oil he is free of strong medications that had horrible side effects, and is now in his right mind! This too may not mean anything to you, but it meant a lot to us!

  • When an xCobu brother didn't have the funds to fly round-trip to a reunion and I saw another brother reach into his pocket and provide the very much needed funds, it may not have meant anything to you, but it meant a lot to the one who extended the generosity!

  • These were just some of the many blessings we've witnessed. There are other blessings that we know went forth, but the receiver kept them to themselves, it is their right! We're just thankful that we were able to view the power of God in our times of weakness.

    • Ps 34:17 When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.
    Pro 15:29 The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
    Jn 3:11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen; but you do not receive our testimony.


  • Time fails me to mention all the blessings I've had the privilege to witness, during the course of our ministry (Heb 11:32) ~ yet you are not able to receive my testimony, because your ability to trust has been so damaged.

  • Yet these are very personal experiences and we refuse to disclose any person who may have had the faith to come forth for a blessing, except for those who've come forth on their own, because they have a testimony to share, that is up to the faith of the individual, and not our place to disclose.

  • Would that you Michael James Montoya, born of the spirit, could have had the grace to see the depth of Jan's testimony for what it truly was:

  • ~ a miraculous moment that lifted her up so much that she felt moved to write it down!

  • ~ Then she shared it with YOU and those In YOUR xCobu CLUB!

  • ~ Because she wanted to bless all of YOU with what BLESSED HER!

  • ~ Even though YOUR response was:

  • ~ to ACCUSE her of DOING SOMETHING WRONG!!!

  • ~ to ACCUSE her OF BEING "INTO" SOME WRONG BEHAVIOR!!

  • ~ to ACCUSE her OF writing something because someone else asked her to!

  • ~ to ACCUSE and INSINUATE that telling her own personal story was her DOING SOMETHING WRONG!

    •
  • ~ Who the heck do YOU think YOU are!?

    •
  • ~ This is how you appear to us Mike!

  • ~ You come off as an accuser to a sister who doesn't have a mean bone in her body!!!

    • My dear sister and friend Jan Hilton, who I love so very deeply, because when Chris and Debbie Blaise, who I extended heartfelt prayers for them and each of their children, from the time they were in diapers until they were of the age to marry, suddenly and without any wrong doing or inconsistency on our parts: did just like you did: they DISCONNECTED MEMBERSHIP ~ without even a word!!!

    Just like YOU DID Michael!!

    Chris and Debbie, one day called us for prayer and the next day were not only shunning us, but were enticing everyone else around them to shun us also!

    And JAN HILTON, saw what they did and saw how it crushed my heart and she was one who stood by me and remained my sister, my prayer partner, and the truest of friends!!!

    She passed the TEST, she was not as one who shrunk back and was ashamed, but one who stood up to even her closest lifelong xCobu friend, who also was insincere.

    One that talked to me everyday for years and then turned around and boasted how proud she was "that she never gave her heart to me!"

    Who brags about being deceitful!?

    I have no idea who that person was, because "I never knew her" I guess!

    She was into "hiding" who she was from me!

    I have no idea why I always reversed the charges, and covered all the expense, because she wasn't even on the other end!!! I must have been talking to myself!! Stupid me!!


    Mt 7:23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.'
    Mt 25:40 And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'
    Jas 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity.

  • ~ I got to thinking about YOUR accusation of Jan,
  • ~ ya know, when you accused her of the horrible possibility that maybe she was doing something:
  • ~ because the "horrible" Dave Simmons TOLD her to!!!!
  • ~ Yet, if someone reads on a website that others have questions and in interest in their group,
  • ~ and then spoke to another member of the same group and said,
  • ~ "Hey, these people over here are interested in our fellowship, wow!"

    •
  • ~ Do you want to tell them a little bit about our group, from your perspective?

    •
  • ~ Since Jan had been a part of our fellowship for many years, since 1989!

  • ~ There would be absolutely nothing wrong with having a conversation like that!

  • ~ Even though that's not what actually happened.

  • ~ What actually happened was that Jan read your post herself, and replied to it of her own accord!

  • ~ And what was your reaction to her very in-depth expression of her experiences?

  • ~ YOU gave her a NO LONGER A MEMBER, message,

  • ~ when she tried to log back in to YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB site!


  • ~ My point is though, that it there would have been nothing wrong if Dave had asked Jan,

  • ~ or anyone else in our group,

  • ~ to share with those on YOUR site anything that they might want to share,

  • ~ since YOU and those in YOUR CLUB site expressed an interest in our group!

  • ~ And in response to "their supposed interest" in our ministry, Living Water,


  • ~ but he would never do this!!!

  • YOU don't even know who Dave Simmons is!!!

  • YOUR writings are filthy!!!

  • He's not even "into leadership!"

  • Dave Simmons is only into seeing people comforted!!

  • He's TOTALLY into seeing people relieved of their heavy burdens!!

  • He's NEVER put pressure on ANYONE ~ to DO ANYTHING ~ EVER!!!


  • One day, we heard that Chris Blaise had written just one more nasty, slanderous, obnoxious, curse about Dave:

  • He said that "Dave is just like Stewart Traill."

  • Tod was passing through that day, and sat in our living room, and he had just read Chris' post on your xCobu Yahoo CLUB site,

  • ~ and Tod looked at me and smiled and said, "Nope, I just can't see it ~

  • ~ Dave's like Traill? Now, could you see "Mr. High and Wonderful" (Stewart Traill),

  • ~ running out to the ice cream truck to get everyone a cone like Dave just did for us!?

  • The first time Jan Hilton got her feet washed, was moments before we headed to one of the reunions, and she was so over the top giggly and feeling such a rich blessing that she shared with one of the brothers there how it was so awesome that "she just got her feet washed" something that we "didn't do in Cobu" so something that isn't familiar and the brother looked at her like she had "two heads" as if to say, "Ah, huh? Did I hear you right?" but she was just so filled with joy, that it didn't even register that he was in shock and she just smiled and said, "Yeah, it was so awesome!" LW => very joyful! Say hello to we who are LW! Another thing that we do in LW, that wasn't done in Cobu, and is also amazing => receiving the oil blessing!

    •
  • Or, could you see Mr. High and Wonderful (Stewart Traill) washing our feet, as Dave just did, because Jesus showed us that it was something he did for his own disciples, to bless them.


    •
    Jn 13:14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
    Jas 5:14 Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;
    Mk 6:13 And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them.
    Lk 10:33-34 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
    Lk 7:46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.


  • Anointing with oil was so common that Jesus spoke as though he wasn't given something that he expected to be offered, when he commented: "You did not anoint my head with oil."

  • I love Tod so much! He always makes my heart smile!!

  • Or, could you see Mr. High and Wonderful, patiently listening to the troubles of someone who felt "untethered" [unless maybe it was "a woman under 25" and he had ulterior motives], yet Dave listens to anyone ~ he makes no distinction ~ he gives each person he talks to his undivided attention and seeks their good ~ not his own interests!!

  • This is why Dave is such a wonderful and beloved teacher, because he has a listening ear and he cares about others, he treats others as though they are Jesus himself, with respect, and kindness, and dignity.

  • So, no Mike, you've researched Dave ~ you've neither known him, nor seen him!

  • Once, one of the older Cobu brothers told me that his granddaughter said to him out of the blue, and never having met nor heard of Dave, she told this brother, "Dave Simmons is a very good man, listen to him." It was kind of shocking, but Dave is the kindest soul I've ever met in my life! I am so thankful to be his wife!!


    • So Mike, Jan's testimony might not mean a lot to YOU ~ or to those in YOUR xCobu Yahoo CLUB, but it certainly meant a lot to me, as she means so very much to me!!!

    Heb 10:39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and keep their souls.
    1Jn 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.


  • Some who have actually gotten caught up in the "lynch mob spirit" of speaking evil, when there was actually a blessing involved in their experience, have even called and sought forgiveness for their act of "momentary falsehood," and forgiveness is always extended to anyone who has the faith to confess their need for it.

  • As the scripture counsels to extend forgiveness 70 times 7 in the span of one day, "if someone comes forth and seeks it."


    • Mt 18:21 Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?"
    Mt 18:22 Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.
    Lk 17:4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, and says, 'I repent,' you must forgive him."

  • Holding onto sin is poison to the heart and to the mind and to the soul. It was one of the first blessings that my husband and I learned to extend to each other while we were still just "dating in Cobu" ~ wow, that was a roller coaster ride, if I do say so myself!

  • Your inability Michael James Montoya, to receive the honest testimony of a few only makes me wonder how you would feel if your own testimony went unrecognized?

  • For what is the Holy Bible, but a compilation of the many testimonies of those who by the Holy Spirit of God and the power of God's love, were touched and were able to record some evidence of that experience?

    •
    Jn 20:31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.
    Jn 6:29 Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."


  • Yet, even in the case of miraculous healings, many times only one came back to thank the Lord. (Lk 17:11-19)

  • Would that YOU Mike Montoya, would invest in more worthy endeavors than attacking your brothers and sisters in Christ!

    • Eph 4:29 Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear.
    Rm 12:9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good;
    Rm 12:10 ...love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor.
    Rom 12:17 Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.
    Rom 12:18 If possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all.


  • We are those who have a relationship with a caring and loving Father, who has not only touched our hearts, minds, and souls, but has also had that extended to many who have had the faith to pray with us.

  • One brother boasted that he'd receive a gallon of oil and our prayers, yet when we offered to pray for him right there and then, he made an excuse, he said that he'd need to check with his wife. His wife came and said, "He always wants a blessing, he's never asked my approval for one before!" Yet he said, "I'll just take a parentheses." And it was granted :) Though we still pray for him, and his wife, and their son, yet this may not mean anything to you, but it may have meant something to him, to not be pressured or pushed, but to have the freedom to go in peace.

  • At a reunion we saw a couple who couldn't remember how to get back to the venue so we offered to lead them back ~ as we arrived, they thanked us and said they needed to stop for gas before driving in ~ yet it almost seemed as though they appreciated our kindness, yet didn't want to be seen arriving with us ~ as in Gal 2:12 ~ it's good to bless even those who fear to be seen with us!

  • How do you put a test on the blessing of God?

  • Especially when you have no ability to see the transformation of the lives he's already changed and brought considerable blessing to? It's a mystery.

  • I can only say, that I have been a witness to many miraculous lives uplifted and blessed! And these blessings may not mean a lot to you, but they meant a lot to me and to those who have had the faith to pray with us!

    • By the wonderful and blessed power of our Lord and Savior I have a thankful heart and have lived to tell you and anyone else about it!

    I have tasted the kindness of the Lord and it has blessed me and those who I pray with often.

    In the service of my Lord and Savior, under the guidance of my husband, I am,

    Cynthia Simmons

    The Thread on XCobu Yahoo / Re: I am upset with Tod being removed from this list....

    Post written by Nancy C :

    I think CB needs to apologize to Herm and MM too. And I feel bad about Tod not
    being here b/c I don't think he was using this List to try to make converts to
    LW, he didn't say anything about it for a long while. I don't like hearing how
    they have been toward CB and family    , but right like Kevin said, too bad we can't
    get to a place of neutrality and just agree NOT to talk about LW.
    Sounds like Jim didn't get a bottle of olive oil running down his beard forcibly
    when Tod stopped by    , lol. Wish all could just be "normal" friends instead of all
    this religious malarky    .
    Nancy C.
    Since I've included many of the events that brought a considerable amount of judgment against us, by the things that were testified against us by Chris and Debbie Blaise after the July 2006 xCobu Reunion and their daughter Alexandra's wedding Aug. 5, 2006, I would like to also include on this page the heart-felt letter that I was able to extend after those things transpired:

    Tues. Aug. 8, 2006
    Dear Debbie,

    I reach across this page to you and embrace you as I always have and if you desire it I always will. You have always been very dear to me; as Jesus gave us a unique bond many years ago as you've often reminded me. As you know, we also have an enemy, who is only too glad to use a mix up to create stress. It seemed like all I did from July 12th through the 29th � hours too numerous to count but approximately 80 hours were used to work on the favor project to complete the promise I made to Alex at her bridal shower, but it was a bitter sweet labor after the way things unfolded during our prayer after the reunion at your house.

    I can only say that it became obvious that a line was drawn that day that had only been hinted at in earlier days. Whether this was a joint expression or only Chris', God knows all things. I know the gifts of the 'Thank You' and 'Happiness' angels were heartfelt blessings from you to me and I thank you Debbie for them and for the expressions they extend. As Tod, Dave and I have only extended to you and Chris and each member of your family years of love and prayers in the Holy Spirit. We only shared with you what God and our Savior Jesus put on our hearts for your up building and encouragement. This is why it was so difficult to witness what we did during prayer at your house. If what was leveled at Tod through Chris were leveled at you as you attempted to bring a prophetic utterance in the midst of brethren we had not prayed with since we were in COBU, you may not have faired as well. Or if someone prayed as Chris did if Charity or Alex or anyone had an inspired word from God.

    To say this is between Chris and Dave and Tod also makes no sense to me.

    Before Chris' accident, Chris called Dave and seemed angry and Dave asked him what was wrong and Chris commented on things he felt, but Dave never understood where he was coming from and told him as much. Even so, it did not hinder us from extending heartfelt prayers on his behalf and for you and your children. When you asked me to come to Reading to be with you during your trial of almost loosing your beloved husband, my husband lent you my presence and any strength God could muster within me while your husband lay unconscious and as soon as Tod and Dave got off work on the Friday after Chris' accident they also drove out to Reading to also lend their support. Tod got a flat tire on his way to Reading and yet gladly went to Chris' bedside to pray for him, even though Chris' parents extended the dinner invitation at The Olive Garden to them both.

    Even your daughter Alex thanked Tod when the Holy Spirit working through his gift relieved her of a burden he didn't even know about, that had troubled her soul for a very long time and now it no longer does, after his prayers on her behalf.

    When Chris cried out in a loud voice: �Let not this approach prevail Lord God!

    just after Tod's prophesy came forth -

    What spirit would say that to the Holy Spirit?

    And if it is contended that it was not the Holy Spirit that was silenced through Chris' outburst, I would venture to share the scripture: 'to subvert a man in his cause, the Lord does not approve.' (Lam. 3.36) or I will site: 1 Th 5:19-22 'Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophesying, but test everything, hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil.'

    How can any one test something that was not even permitted to come forth?

    I can only say, as the Lord said to us that very night, that damage was done. Blessings and healings that the Lord would have gladly extended were shut up; even a healing for your own husband and for others who were there; but we will never know how rich the blessing might have been. When I heard this it grieved me to tears.

    When the Lord granted Chris the faith to make his first humble utterance in the gift of prophesy at our house in the presence of Dave, Tod and I � we were each in such awe and thankfulness that Chris could also share in hearing from our Father and Savior himself. To think that he would pray as he did in our presence that night was so incredibly unbelievable to me.

    When the Lord spoke through you about practicing hospitality ungrudgingly toward one another � how hospitable was it for Chris to hinder Tod's prayer?

    In spite of what transpired we have not ceased to lift you up in our prayers.

    The fact that Chris has not made any attempt to address what his utterance caused is a further evidence to us that he has no intentions to. The few times we've spoken since that night you've mentioned awareness that wrong was done, but that you have no control over what Chris says or does is proof enough that he must be aware of it also.

    I am one with my husband Debbie, our hearts, as you know, have always remained steadfast toward you as the scripture counsels us to: 'Owe no one anything except to love one another.' (Rom. 13.8)

    Yet, after what happened another scripture was delivered to us that night: 'And if any one will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town.' (Mt. 10.14)

    God knows our hearts. We have no intentions of subverting Chris in his cause.

    We only go where we are welcome (Rom. 15.7) unless the Lord sends us we cannot go.

    We were sent to Alexandra & Tyler's wedding to bless them as they had invited us and we had returned our RSVP it was only fitting that we go, but the divide that has been put up between us can only be removed by he who made it.

    My prayers and love for you as always unchanged, Cynthia

    Dave and Tod affirm this letter.

    After we extended this letter Chris called us, angry about the letter I wrote, he said Debbie insisted he call, yet afterward we only heard that he still had slanderous things to say of us to any and all who would listen.

    Debbie also called a very long time later and admitted that if anyone had done to her what Chris had done to Tod during a prayer, that she would have run from the room screaming and that although she knew Chris had planned to do something that she didn't know what and that she was sorry for how things had developed because she knew we had always been there for her and Chris and had helped them immeasurably throughout the years.

    She said that she didn't know how she would have walked through the trial of Chris's accident without my support.

    I told her that it hurt my feelings that she thanked many at the Reunion, but didn't thank me and I asked her how she would feel if she left her family for a whole week and stood by my side in the same situation and I neglected to thank her openly ~ but instead turned my back to her and got others to do it as well, as she and Chris had done to Dave, Tod, and I ~ and she admitted that she wouldn't have appreciated it either.

    Yet, we heard from several that both Chris and Debbie spoke negatively of us to others afterward.

    This is my post-Cobu experience in ministry ~ I only express events that all witnessed or were made aware of ~ and would never reveal any private issue of things we prayed about or had said in confidence, my conscience is clear about these matters.

    Many xCobu brothers and sisters have received false testimony against us and have joined in the negative expressions against us, even ones we had prayed with years ago who knew how we've always conducted ourselves among you. I did not feel that it was fair to leave things as they have been believed. It's not fair to make false testimony against your brothers and sisters ~ if you have ever been the victim of it I don't believe that you would like it either.

    Pro 18:17 He who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.
    1Sa 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance... for the LORD sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart."
    Jas 1:2-3 Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

    Their testimony against us has influenced the way that many have looked upon us though and the Lord gave me the freedom, finally, to speak on it, since much of my wound has healed.

    Cynthia

    Mike Montoya said that some members of his xCobu Yahoo site had questions about our ministry, so we posted the following explanation in response to Mike's inquiry. He then accused us of using his site to advertise our ministry and canceled our membership:

    THE OIL BLESSING

    The Blessing of the Oil as posted on: January 1, 2011

    In response to the many questions that have been put forth about my ministry I am presenting here some of the aspects of it, in an effort to satisfy some of your questions. I felt it was fitting that I put in my own words what it is, as others have made comments in the past, yet I have not spoken, so now I will speak, we each must do as the Lord our God has shown us to do.

    I have been commissioned prophetically: to pour oil upon the heads of those who are hurt from COBU and to pray for them that they might be healed.

    We do not charge for this service. We do not insist that one come back for: repeated meetings. We are here, if you would like to try something different. If you have found that you have gone from place to place, read this book and that, have lifted up your hurts in prayer and yet you feel: that you cannot get rid of Stewart Traill�s influence in your life, then perhaps have oil poured on your head and have us pray for you, for the relief of these curses, this is my ministry.

    We don't put any pressure on anyone to do anything, neither do we feel the need to respond to those who have no interest in our ministry. The oil blessing is for those who feel they have a need for it. If you aren't interested I have no problem with that; but if you try to convince someone who is hurt and wishes to be blessed that they should not do this, then it is you who have crossed the line and not I.

    The blessing of the oil is what I do, it is for the hurts of the hearts of any who have been hurt by Stewart Traill and The Church of Bible Understanding or the Forever Family, whether you have a small, a medium, or a large sized hurt or if you just want someone to listen to you and let you vent about your COBU experience, without judgment or preconceived ideas, the Lord my God has counseled me to listen to you, and you can speak as long or as little as you wish. This is the short version. If you�re interested in how this ministry came to be and what others have experienced who have had the faith to receive this blessing, it will be provided, but what I've said here is the nut shell version.

    He who obeys a command will meet no harm. [Ecc 8:5]

    It is my pleasure and privilege to do as I've been asked of the Lord to do and to perhaps add some peace to the brothers and sisters who desire to put my ministry to the test. Thank you for listening.

    In the service of the Lord my God and His Christ, I am Dave Simmons, may the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ dwell within you and bless you and your family.

    Jan Hilton Tells Her Story of Freedom

    My name is Jan Hilton; my maiden name was Jan Martinez when I was in the fellowship. I married Steve Hilton, who was also a brother in COBU.

    When I left COBU I was very bound to the things that I learned there and I didn�t feel like a normal Christian. When I went to other churches I felt different than the people there. I spoke to pastors of the churches that I went to and none of them understood what I went through, nor knew how to help me and they seemed to want me to brush it aside, and said to seek God and move on.

    I felt frustrated and angry and felt that life was very hard, just to do the normal things. A sister told me that Dave and Cynthia had sought the Lord and that he gave them a gift to help those from COBU that needed help. Steve and I were traveling through from our home in Ohio to Steve�s family in Massachusetts and called to see if it would be okay for us to stop in on our way through at their home in NJ.

    I knew that Steve and I were in trouble. We were fighting and I felt ill-equipped to deal with the day to day stress of being a wife and mother to two small children. As we were traveling, I still had my doubts and fears that nothing might happen, but my need for relief seemed stronger than my doubts. I was also excited that something good might happen because I knew Jesus was greater than COBU, but so far I couldn�t get past a bunch of negative feelings. All the things that I learned in COBU about what a wife should be like and what a husband should be like wasn�t part of my reality and left me feeling like I was never doing enough or doing the right thing. I constantly questioned myself, my motives and second guessed every move I made so that I had no peace.

    I was happy to see Dave and Cynthia and their baby boy. They made us dinner and they asked if we�d like to pray. We spent the night. The next day it was as if the Lord kept filling my mind with different scriptures, then Cynthia turned, while we were praying and said to me, �Don�t be afraid to speak out the things that I am saying to you.� In my heart I knew that only the Lord knew that he was speaking to me, so when Cynthia said that, it was a confirmation to my heart that the Lord was with her, though I didn�t say anything at the time.

    Dave explained the blessing of the oil and asked if we�d like to receive it. When I received the oil blessing I felt very unworthy and it seemed that all my pain was bubbling up and all I could do was weep. I felt as though I was safe to let some of the things binding me come to the surface. I remember seeing God like Stewart, harsh and unforgiving and constantly holding me to a standard I couldn�t keep, yet when Dave poured the oil on my head the Lord spoke comfortingly to me and I began to see that God was kind and it was a beginning for me. It was a definite turning point for my whole family.

    The Lord spoke to us that the pain we had, also poured down on our children and that they too needed to have a blessing of the oil. It was summertime and my son was constantly challenging and my feelings were that if my kids could have some blessing, that that was fine with me, and might make my life a little easier.

    When my son Steven was prayed for and Dave poured a lot of oil on his head, he seemed to change before our eyes. He began to giggle and laugh and seemed to enjoy all the attention. I had never seen him as calm as he was after he was prayed for that day.

    For Steve and I, it was a chance to seek the Lord together and it seemed as though a lot of my angst and stress was alleviated at that time. When we left, I felt as though a little light came into the door of my heart. Looking back, I know I still had problems, but I realized I got a certain amount of relief that I didn�t know I could have and I was grateful for it and looked forward to praying with them again.

    Over the years, whenever I would call Dave and Cynthia they always took time to listen to whatever was going on that I needed to talk about, no matter how long I needed to talk they always listened and asked if I�d like them to pray with me on the phone or if I wanted them to pray on their own for me. I always knew that if I would ask them to pray for me they would, but when I�d pray with them on the phone, usually the Lord would use their prophetic gift and the Lord himself would go to exactly what was stressing me and I would get lifted up right then, on the phone. This was a great comfort to me and always helped me to feel that there was someone who cared about my faith and well being.

    Moving forward I�d like share a specific blessing that was incredible to me. I was burdened for many, many years by a stress that seemed to cripple me. It was a stronghold over my heart that I never expected to get any relief from.

    I was visiting a sister in the South and Dave and Cynthia planned to stop by the same weekend I was there. There were just myself, Cynthia and two other sisters and we decided to pray together.

    At the time, one of the sisters had only been out of COBU for a short time and we began to pray for her.

    Then Cynthia wanted everyone to pray for me. Cynthia came to me and embraced me and I began to cry. I had a lot of stress over my parenting of my son. I always felt that when he was little I was too harsh, because of the influence of the fellowship on what parents should be like. I would see other mothers with their children and always beat myself up that I hadn�t been gentler with my son in his formative years. I felt like it was a bad movie, that always had a bad ending, that I couldn�t change. When Cynthia embraced me, the Lord spoke to me: "that he was taking out of my ear the condemning voice and that he threw it into the depths of the sea, where no one could ever touch it again!" He said, "that the enemy rubbed this negative message into my face every morning, noon, and night and constantly taunted me, but that he could no longer use this against me and that I was free from it!"

    I was totally filled with joy and was so grateful, that something that burdened my heart and mind was suddenly completely gone!

    This was huge to me and I hadn�t spoken to Cynthia about this stress and yet the Lord, through her gift, seemed to not only see it, but was able to reach inside and take it from me.

    It was one of the most extraordinary experiences of being blessed that I�ve ever had in my life.

    At one point my husband felt that his faith was lacking and he wanted to receive the oil blessing again and Dave and Cynthia drove all the way to our home in Ohio and gave him the oil blessing.

    It lifted Steve up so much, that although he was never interested in going to COBU reunions before, now he felt moved to go to a reunion and hoped to see other brothers and sisters lifted up and blessed, as we had been, and he was also looking for more blessing for himself, something that in the past he didn�t feel moved to do.

    So we drove to the 2007 reunion in York, PA and were glad to take part in seeing about 11 brothers and sisters blessed with the oil blessing and prayers.

    Steve and I prayed with and for each one who wanted to receive it.

    It gave us a lot of joy to see each one get blessed.

    I was so lifted up that I felt like I was glowing!

    I felt as though nothing could hurt my heart or my faith.

    I wandered over to say hello to a brother and sister I hadn�t seen in a long time, but instead of the joy I had just been a part of, they began to accuse me of hurting a sister I had been close to for many years. I had no idea what they were talking about, but I felt like I was getting worked over, accused of not calling and suddenly I got a splitting headache.

    It definitely was like a blast from the past, like my experience in the fellowship, when God would comfort you and all of a sudden someone would say something to you that crushed you. It felt like a blow from the enemy.

    When I told Steve what happened, he wanted to confront them, but Dave and Cynthia said just to leave it and that they would pray for me when we got back to the hotel and not to fear.

    I felt so distressed.

    Back at the hotel, everyone laid hands on me and prayed for me and Dave poured oil over my head and God lifted up the hurt of my heart.

    If you�ve ever seen the movie, The Lord of the Rings, when Frodo got stabbed by the 'Ring Wraith' knife and it seemed to be a crippling wound, that�s the only example I can think of that visually describes the hurt I felt by the brother and sister, who were accusing me of 'wrong doing' and 'of hurting someone.' I felt like they cursed me after I had just been used to be a blessing, and the contrast was like night and day.

    God used the brothers and sisters to lift me up, but I learned that I need to be watchful over my heart, not to let those who don�t have peace to oppress me.

    The Lord had counseled Cynthia to write a daily prayer of things he wanted her to seek him about each day, and one of the things he showed her to do was to pray for anyone who ever received the oil blessing, through their ministry, so these 11 brothers and sisters names were added to the ones she and Dave already had been praying for, and they lift each of us up in prayer, by name, everyday! And even a bunch who they told about the oil blessing, but didn't want to do it yet! I got a copy of her prayer, so I could pray for each one too! I especially like to pray for those 11 though, because I was there and was a part of them getting a blessing. Cynthia's said her prayer so many times that she knows all of the many names by heart! That amazes me! She even prays for the ones who rejected her, and her family and their ministry!

    I am very thankful and grateful for God�s love for me and the comfort he has used many times through Dave, Cynthia, Tod and their ministry over the years to bless me and my family.

    God Bless you,

    Jan Hilton

    In reply to our post above of "The Blessing of the Oil," the personal testimony of Jan Hilton, and Dan Cooper's inquiry of his interest in writing and posting his own experience of healing, below is Michael Montoya's post, on its own, that he posted around 1 am Jan 4, 2011, the day he booted: Dave, Tod, Dan & Jan @ noon the same day, less than 12 hours, when within this post he said he'd give Dave "a couple of days" to reply:

    Re: The question of the Oil 1/4/2011

    Since I have asked now, I think, 2 different times for your permission to ask you questions about your ministry, Dave, and so far there is no response and because now, since your note, two current or former supporters of your ministry have gained access here, I am now compelled to act. I will first state my positions and then offer a last chance to you Dave, to make clear, right here, in the open, your ministry by answering questions I have as well as questions others have.

    I want to state as clearly as I can my impressions of LW thus far and also restate my role here as moderator for those who may be wondering why I am willing and able to take any action here.

    My name is Michael James Montoya. I was born of the Spirit, June 30th 1975. My family and I were led to Jesus by members of the Forever Family. I moved into cobu in 1980 and moved out in 1984. In 1998 I started a web page specifically to get ex-members in touch with each other. Soon after the web page I signed up for the OneList discussions. Then later I joined Yahoogroups and the list you are on right now is the very same. I am the list owner and moderator. It has been my intention, and most of my actions bear this out, that I have endeavored to manage this list with the hope that ex-members will find the ones they knew in the group and by talking things out and praying for one another brethren in Christ can heal from the damage they incurred in the cobu. Because this list is for ex-members, it means that the ex-member who is a christian right now and the ex-member who is not a christian right now are both welcome here.

    There are rules on this list. These rules have evolved over time as circumstances have arisen which were unforseen and by the amount of personal email I have recieved, some not very nice, I have had to step in and take action. I have had to expel some who could not abide the rules of this forum. I have had to warn some who knowingly or unknowingly have made misteps. There are over 130 members on this list and there is the same amount over at Cobu Survivors. There have been other lists and I even started a second list so that arguers could have a place to really have it out but the Sharpen list was hardly used. Everyone here wanted to stay here and so it was necessary to make rules so that discussions ranging from politics to church doctrine to our time under ST all could be hashed out here and that our Lord would be pleased by our love for one another.

    Whether you like me being the moderator or not or the owner of this list or not, I am for now and I believe that I am responsible to our Father to tend this list for the good of the brethren here. Having said this, you will now understand why I am concerned by some of the things Tod has said and not said here. I have been bothered by LW as it has been presented by Tod and sometimes by Dave.

    There are some truths that need to be stated here before I continue. I am a christian. Herman Weiss is a Christian. Nancy Coogan is a Christian.Tod Burros is a Christian. Dave Simmons is a Christian. Steve Saxton is a Christian. Bob San Pascual is a Christian. Dee Dee Rose is a Christian, Dee Jones is a Christian. Chris Blaise is a Christian. Barbara Caban is a Christian. If I didn't name you forgive me. The Lord knows you. Your name is written in heaven. There is a majority of christians here, who walk in the light as He is in the light, and so we have fellowship with one another. I am not questioning what the Lord Jesus has begun in the ones I have mentioned.

    Now, to your ministry Dave. Why don't you respond? And Tod, why do you pick and choose where and when and who you show this ministry to? Dave writes this email about what LW is about. Okay fine. I have questions. Now we get into the whole thing we already got into.

    You and Dave say you have a ministry for ex-cobu members. Like I said....That means us! You are on one of the largest gatherings on line of ex-members. Whether you have been honest about your intentions here or not, the impression is still questionable. Neil Pendry has his little group. He is steeped in heresy and is not welcome here. Chris Blaise when he had the chance would make his appeal for those here to join him over on his list, which was wierd because this is not a competition and I am not a super center leader and neither is he and so racking up the numbers was never an issue at least for me. Chris' boast of number of messages is to his shame and misunderstanding of what this list is and what his list is. And now, as much as you Tod say that you are not pushing your ministry and not trying to bring it up and Dave hardly appears on this list and gosh LW is not trying to push their thing.....the result of your non-pushing, non-selling is that you are now here and using this list as a means to get your ministry presented. Now is this wrong? Well, no, if you were open about it. You have not been forthright. Dave has not been either. I have questions, others have questions. Not only is it normal, it is scriptural and our duty as Christians to test everything. Have you Tod, or you Dave brought your ministry to our attention or anyone's attention to see whether or not you were running in vain or laboring in vain? If you come here talking about your ministry to ex-members, are you seeking ordination or approval or certification or advice? Don't tell me, "we didn't bring up our ministry, others did" sorry....you did bring up your testimony and you have alluded to your ministry enough that even without Chris' charges we would have known about it.

    What I am asking for is walking in the Light. You and Dave have a ministry. fine. Now what? What do you want any of us to do about it? Do you want us to join? Do you want us to spread the word about it? What are you asking anyone here to do? If you cannot be clear on this minor point then how can you expect anyone here to trust you further? Dave, if you are opening your ministry up to brethren here, then field questions here about your ministry. If you don't care that some here have questions and you don't intend to answer anyone here then do not offer your ministry. I for one am not going to stand here and have you or Tod or anyone come on this list and offer some ministry which has born no scrutiny. Testimonials from the few who have been blessed by your work does not meet the test. Call up current cobu and ask them if they are being fed or blessed by ST....you can get at least 50 testimonials of how God is using ST.

    So I now extend for a 3rd or 4th time. Dave Simmons, will you in the next couple of days, field some questions from brethren here in order to make clear that your ministry is of God? If you are unwilling then I will make the arrangements for you and Tod not to be here in the capacity of ministers. Because this is how you see yourselves, but you have not behaved as ones who have met the test, then I am responsible deny your access here. I will not tolerate heresy here and I will not tolerate false teaching or false shepherds. If you are not guilty then you have nothing to fear, if you are zealous for what's right. If you have erred then there are brethren here who have been given wisdom by God and are trained in the scriptures to correct you with gentleness.

    If you both were here simply to fellowship or talk then there would not be an issue. Because your ministry and some of your supporters are now here, I will not bypass this ultimatum of testing for the sake of a few testimonials.

    We ex-members have been fooled and burned by a false christ and a false teacher. I do not want to be responsible for any here being led astray again. We must test all things. If you do not want to be tested I will give you a final email for you to invite this whole list to join you on your own list or web site or call you or write you. By then they will know what you are, either by your response or lack thereof.

    Mike Montoya

    On or around August 14, 2013, Mike Montoya entered into a dialog with Dave on Facebook: Cobu Stories, where he once again said "he had questions"

    Dave responded with the following letter:

    Hi Mike,

    As a brother in Christ it is my right to respond or not respond, as I see fit. I don't have a problem with you asking questions, but from my perspective you and those who moderate The xCobu Websites have all voted loud and clear where they stand toward our ministry.

    I recall when I was on your xCobu site, that you and other members wanted to know more about my ministry.

    My wife and I drafted a very similar response to the one I posted here, explaining to the best of our ability about our ministry in answer to what I understood those questions to be. And before I even got home from work you denied me access to your site.

    I wasn't even able to see if anyone responded, because when I tried to get on your site I got the message: NO LONGER A MEMBER.

    And at the same time you de-friended me on Facebook, so that all communication between us would be cut off.

    And then, the xCobu survivor moderator followed your lead and canceled my membership also.

    So, how is it that you now say to me that you've been waiting three years to ask me a question? You who made it very clear that you didn't want to have any conversation with me at all and didn't want me to communicate with any of the brothers and sisters on those sites either?

    In my opinion, from this experience, I did not see your action as being fair and some from your list contacted me afterward and thought the same thing.

    Yet, you have expressed that what you did to me was fine.

    You have already voted loud and clear that my responses to your questions are so far from what you consider acceptable that you canceled my membership to your group and yet you expect me to trust you to be a moderator on xCobu stories between my ministry and the brothers and sisters here?

    Anyone who has ever come to pray with me has been received in peace and sent on their way in peace, but to be questioned by someone who has already voted against me, I do not see the benefit.

    So, if you want to continue to ask me questions, feel free and I will also feel free to answer as I see fit.

    So, now you ask me to share with you a recording of a very personal experience of mine and I say: I am not moved to share that experience with someone whose idea of fairness is so far from mine.

    I will also extend to you another aspect of my ministry that I have not shared with you before. One of the things the Lord God counseled would benefit those who seek out my ministry, is to overcome the voices that would prevent them from checking it out themselves ~ so, technically Mike, you being their stand-in moderator actually prevents them from taking their own steps, in their own faith. I do not see the benefit in you circumventing someones God given right to ask their own questions. I believe the brothers and sisters that I remember are more than capable of fielding their own questions, but so far you have actually had more nerve than most. Faith must be exercised.

    Dave

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