The Counterfeit Dahlia

When beautiful presentation masks distorted teaching

I came across an article online that spoke to the Sabbath. I quickly read it — I had been researching the topic and found the piece informative. On the surface, this organization appeared to be following the Word. How refreshing, I thought. I ordered an additional article to read more.

At the time I wasn’t looking to join a church. I was cultivating my relationship with God — learning by His Spirit and rooting myself in the Word. It felt like a season of incubation: lonely but necessary, just “me and Him,” as I’d say.

I received a call from an unfamiliar number. After screening the voicemail, I recognized the caller’s name from an email I’d received the day before from the organization I ordered the article from. I felt nudged to answer. The man introduced himself energetically as a minister — I’ll call him A.H., from the organization — I’ll call it GCR. He told me about a nearby congregation in upstate New York in case I was interested in attending. The idea of community felt appealing; I wasn’t looking to join a church, but maybe God was leading me there.

We talked about how I’d found their site — nothing special, just a Google search on the topic I was researching. I also shared parts of my personal journey with God. He told me there was no question I was being called and offered to connect me with the local minister; we’ll call him N.T. Later that afternoon they conference-called me on a three-way call. I was wondering what I was supposed to say on this call — it was a bit strange; I had not experienced this type of triaging before. The conversation was cordial but different — a little formal, a little guarded.

There was one comment from A.H. that nudged my spirit. He said that in the New Testament there is no talk of God speaking through dreams and visions — not to say my dreams and visions aren’t legitimate, just to be careful it wasn’t the enemy. What is he talking about — is he reading a different book? That couldn’t be further from the truth. I didn’t respond to his comment on the call; I didn’t want to seem combative, I took it into prayer.

The next day the minister N.T. called to explain the congregation’s culture and customs. He did it pleasantly but carefully: dress to the knee, no makeup, no clapping, phones off, men in suits. A checklist of expectations left me feeling overwhelmed — I wanted to make sure my husband and I wouldn’t “miss the mark.” Again, it was strange, but I wasn’t turned away; it raised questions for me that I took into prayer.

I was “confirmed” to attend the congregation the following Saturday. The night before I prayed again, stressing the small discomforts before the LORD. The interactions from this establishment’s leadership didn’t sit right with my spirit — it was opposite to what Holy Spirit had shown me over the years. I gave all my concerns to the LORD.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but if this is where God wants me, I will go.

Later that evening I had a notification on my phone from a channel called ‘AFreshWord’. A channel I was not affiliated with at the time. The message said:

Whose approval are you seeking?

I paused. My spirit in that moment felt a sense of conviction. I thought back to the nudges I felt when connecting with both ministers over email and phone — and how I didn’t speak God’s Word I knew to be true. Instead, I remained silent, avoiding the awkwardness.

Whose approval was I seeking?

On Sabbath morning I left in prayer, asking for guidance and clarity. I wasn’t sure why I was going; I hadn’t been looking to join a church, and I couldn’t ignore the initial awkward encounter with their leadership. I needed to be sure I was hearing from God on this one.

These were the words placed in my spirit: fulfill the assignment; fear not — I am with you; whatever opposes you will not prevail; walk in your call with boldness, power, and authority. It felt like preparation for battle — and I wondered why I would willingly go.

My husband joined me which helped. We arrived at the congregation to find it was being held in a conference room of a hotel. Now my husband was looking at me like I’m insane. I didn’t have any response for him. We made it in and it was warm; the people felt like family. It was a small group — maybe twenty, including my husband and me as guests. I sat next to two kind women; let’s call them “R” and “K.” “R” shared with me that she’d been there since the beginning — over twenty years — and “K” said it was her second Sabbath with the establishment. The sermon was streamed from another location — the minister I’d met over the phone informed me he would be preaching elsewhere and would be at the next Sabbath (the following weekend).

The sermon covered God’s miracles — it was good. At the end I began to clap, and “R” gently signaled, with a smile, that they don’t clap. It was the exact rule on the checklist I had obviously forgotten. “K” whispered, “That was me last week — I’m still learning.” It felt unnatural, and the environment rehearsed.

We shared a Sabbath meal afterward. An older woman. “E”, sitting across from me said, “You were the one called here, and you brought your husband, right?” Her warmth was real, and as she spoke I sensed her spirit was wrestling with something, but I wasn’t sure how to share it. I felt the tenderness of someone who’d walked hard roads. After taking a second to understand her question, I replied, “Yes.” We talked a bit; her words were genuine, as was she.

Then a younger woman, “J,” sat down next to me, “E” got up and suggested we talk and share stories. Share stories? I wasn’t sure what that meant, but I briefly explained why I was there and “J” took it from there — “So they talked to you about the makeup, nails, and dress.” Before I could respond, she continued, “And to be honest, do what you feel comfortable doing — I do my hair and nails how I feel.”

I showed my hands as they were. She said, “Oh — and the shawl is your best friend.” I smiled and she went on, “So you’ve been studying the material for some time before coming?” I didn’t know how to answer. I said, “I read an article about the Sabbath, and a gentleman from headquarters reached out and informed me of this location.” She looked at me strangely.

On the drive home my husband told me he’d been asked how long it took us to “get in.” He’d answered honestly — that someone had reached out from their headquarters. The reply he received was revealing: “You mean you didn’t read all the material? Usually, it takes about three months before you’re invited.” The prying made it clear — there were prerequisites to “get in,” and it was too late to back-pedal.

After lunch we connected with the local minister and his family via Zoom. His wife spoke and I felt uneasy; her words did not match the spirit I perceived. My husband later shared he’d felt the same dissonance. On the ride home I returned to prayer: the congregation body seemed genuine and warm, but the leadership wasn’t authentic — something was off.

The next morning, I followed up with A.H. by email about the dreams-and-visions comment. I explained that Scripture in the New Testament — Joseph’s dream in Matthew 1:20–21, 2:13–23; the prophecy in Joel 2:28 and its New Testament parallel in Acts 2:17–21 given in Peter’s sermon; Luke’s many references — all demonstrate God communicating through dreams and visions. What is this guy smoking, I thought. To my surprise he replied promptly, copied N.T., retracted part of his stance but maintained his reservation. I thanked him and didn’t want a long back-and-forth.

Seeking further clarity on the beliefs of this organization, I wrote to N.T. after reading another booklet link by D.P., the organization’s leader, that he’d shared. The booklet emphasized Sabbath observance but left vague how the group distinguished itself doctrinally, and they suggested continued adherence to Mosaic customs. I asked about the church’s position on the Law and the Promise and about roles in the body of the church — apostles and teachers; I referenced 1 Corinthians 12, cautioning against excluding the fullness of Christ’s body. He again pointed me to D.P.’s booklets.

I reviewed D.P.’s material he sent carefully and found troubling distortions and omissions of Scripture — particularly a misapplication of Galatians 3:19 that overlooked Christ as the promised Seed. I encouraged him to read Galatians 3 in its entirety for full context and warned of the risk of distortion when Scripture is cherry-picked. I highlighted two scriptures:

Galatians 5:18 — “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

1 Timothy 1:8–9 — “But we know that the law is good, provided one uses it legitimately. We know that the law is not meant for a righteous person but for the lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and irreverent…

After the email I sent, I was sure I’d be banned from any further outreach.

I prayed after this; I wasn’t sure why I was needing to do this if God was leading me here. Why was I being sent to an establishment where the leadership was speaking things that were not in alignment with the Word?

Shortly after this prayer I was led to Galatians 1:6–7 –

Galatians 1:6–7 — “I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from him who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are troubling you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

My God.

He didn’t stop there; it was as though I was being scorned for initially going with the flow afraid of confrontation and giving correction to the ministers.

Galatians 1:10 — “For am I now trying to persuade people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

I sat with this. I recalled what Holy Spirit had placed on my spirit before leaving that morning to attend the first service.

At that point I understood it wasn’t God’s full teaching but D.P.’s system. The Holy Spirit made clear: my purpose was not to join this establishment but to deliver a word of caution.

Good — I’m done, I thought, I shared the word in email. I don’t need to go back to that place. Then it dawned on me: I had promised a woman I would see her next Sabbath, and I also felt led in my spirit to be there the following Saturday. Whatever it was, it hadn’t been completed.

I was teaching myself Hebrew at the time — just single words at this point. After prayer I read my Hebrew word book; and the word this day was, emeth, meaning Faithfulness, and the image was a single yellow daffodil on a rock. I understood this clearly and as a knowing — “God has always been faithful — wait on Him; in His appointed time, I will know why.” I felt a sense of relief; I knew He would reveal.

Photo by Brittany N.Gross-Jolly

I walked outside my home, and this was my view:

Photo by Brittany N. Gross-Jolly

He is indeed Faithful.

The morning comes, and I muster up the obedience to go. I receive no instructions, no words of encouragement. I didn’t want to go but, in my spirit, I knew I was to go. My husband attended with me again, which made it a bit more bearable. We get there and the vibe of the room was completely different — it felt like everyone knew about the email I had sent questioning D.P.’s system and teachings.

I never received a response to my email; however, I did receive a response:

The minister, N.T., gave a sermon on pride — an interesting choice, I thought, after the email I had sent him the day prior titled “Clarification on GCR Beliefs and Teachings.” I sat with an open heart. He seemed very nervous when sharing the sermon.

Some interesting things he said during the sermon:

He referenced the movie Maverick and said “like in the movie we need to fly low. Many people want to rise and be seen but you need to think opposite — God sees the lowly.”

(I encourage you to research the dangers of aircraft flying low — here’s a reputable site: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) — 14 CFR § 91.119 Minimum safe altitudes: General: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/91.119 )

He said, “Come down from the high horse of looking down on people; you should be on the ground looking up.”

Wow, I thought — is this what they do when someone asks a question? But he didn’t know my roots run deep, and that stunt didn’t shake me — not even a little bit. A twisting and weaponizing of Scripture to keep people from growing in the Word and leading souls astray is never okay.

Sadly, many establishments do this to keep their members needing them. But God’s word teaches the importance of maturing in the Word.

Hebrews 5:12–14 “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

After the sermon we gathered and communed.

N.T. spoke with my husband and shared that ministering is not his day job, that he was a teacher, a band teacher, and did this on the side.

There was a woman there who wasn’t at the last week’s service. I went over to introduce myself and she replied

“My name is Dahlia.”

I paused. I wasn’t sure I heard her correctly and asked her again her name — she said, “Dahlia”. I repeated, “Dahlia?” “Yes,” she replied. My mind started racing back to a dream I had a few months back — in it was the flower, a Dahlia.

I had a knowing at this point: God has just answered my “why” prayer. I couldn’t wait to get out of there and get to my phone where I had it documented. We still had Sabbath lunch to get through at this point, and it would be rude to head out prematurely — I did consider it! I was seated with the minister N.T., his wife, and K the other new attendee.

I asked about his thoughts on apostles, the gifts of the Spirit and how this establishment was arranged. I could see him becoming very nervous while speaking, maybe not sure on the topic. I continued — Jesus Christ is the head of the church (Ephesians 1:22–23), and the members are the body (1 Corinthians 12). He was becoming visibly angered, but I remained calm and spoke with love. There is great responsibility when you lead Gods people (James 3:1–4) and the only book you need to do that is His Word — Revelation 22:18–19, not D.P.’s booklets. God’s word is sufficient.

On the ride home we had to stop to pick up a grocery order. While we waited for the order to come out, I searched my notes where I sometimes document in the early mornings, and there it was — the dream was labeled: Dahlia.

The Dream | Dahlia

Disclaimer: reading of the dream as is — grammar is not considered when waking in early a.m. and recalling the details; the goal is always to get it out quickly.

marching band there was a woman who rallied everyone, there was order many people marching in this band high up on a mountain. They were marching to go and get some type of work done. Before starting to march the prep talk was ‘and we don’t diddle dattle’ and then the march began — I remember seeing them from an angled distance, I had a close up aerial side height view, I was watching them from a height. They were spreading some type of bacteria or very small particles from their mouths by scraping their teeth.- another part I was speaking to a girl I knew she was showing me her nails how girls should keep their nails done how it’s a maintenance thing or something like that and I remember looking down at my nails and they were not manicured, I showed them as they were. Another fragment of the dream I was in a building these building seemed to be connected I was walking in between them like a campus. In this particular building there was an assembly line I was coming to monitor what was being produced and it was a flower being dipped in the color fuchsia/pink at the end of its making process and then placed in a soft wall tote. The flower was a dahlia.This whole place was like a big manufacturing working system everyone working.

God is Faithful.

Reading the dream aloud in the car after service made my spirit overflow: God had shown me why I was there — to see what was being produced and to speak.

It overwhelmed my husband; he stared in disbelief — but there it was: the entire experience we had just had, and there it was written two months prior. I am always humbled and blown away by how God moves, so I naturally get emotional. I give Him all the glory and praise for the work He entrust me with.

Dahlia was the key to me remembering this dream.

Dream breakdown:

• In the physical: The minister’s main job is teaching a band.
• In spirit (dream): the marching band
• In the physical: ‘R’ who has been there since the beginning — 20+ years.
• In spirit (dream): She was the one that kept order — “no clapping”
• In the physical: The lady “J,” who share the dress code, hair and nails again.
• In spirit (dream): I showed my hands as they were.
• In the physical: In his sermon he wanted the followers to remain low. That we should be low to the ground looking up to them.
• In spirit (dream): God held me high up in His hand, I was watching them from a height. So, I could see the corruption of the leadership in this establishment.
• In the physical: The “why” I was there.
• In spirit (dream): to monitor and speak to what was being produced.

I googled the headquarters, and it looks like a big campus — the flowers around it are fuchsia, pink and red.

Isaiah 42:9 — “The past events have indeed happened. Now I declare new events, I announce them to you before they occur.”

Sadly, Dahlia shared with me that she had been suspended twice for “pride” — perhaps she had questions too.

I always share in love; many times people are unaware they are being used by the adversary or led astray. I protected the name of the organization and people because this is not meant to expose — God sees all, and vengeance is mine says, the LORD. The Word necessary for edification was shared with the leadership of this organization, the rest belongs to God. (Romans 12:9–21)

For the readers: may this be a reminder that this is a spiritual battle, and it shouldn’t be taken lightly — guard your souls as you would your physical body from harm. For God tells us in Matthew 10:16, “Look, I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore, be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves.”

The next day I cried for the people in that congregation. They were sincere and wanted God. My heart broke at how easily the wrong leadership can mislead — predators of the soul disguised as piety. My heart hurt for them.

Many people cultivate relationships with the leaders of an establishment, looking to them for salvation or direction when God has given us the Holy Spirit to do just that. I encourage you to know God for yourself; cultivate the relationship with Him. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.

Sometimes God leads us into spaces not to settle, but to speak. What began as a potential for fellowship became a reminder that belonging to Christ comes before belonging to any establishment. When the Holy Spirit reveals error, our call is not to conform but to lovingly warn, standing firm on the Word of God. May we each have the courage to follow His leading — even when it means walking away — speaking what needs to be spoken in order to remain faithful to the truth of the gospel.

It was a staging of a beautiful dahlia with counterfeit teachings at its core.

Photo by Sjoukje Bos on Unsplash