Greetings from the Five Cities region of California.
Earthquakes in Diverse Places
Building collapsed 8 June 2026 in General Santos City (Photo public domain via Wikipedia)
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the island of Mindanao shortly before 7:40am local time on Monday (23:40 GMT, Sunday), according to the United States Geological Survey.
Those affected by this earthquake have been in my prayers.
After learning that dozens died had from this earthquake, I wrote to Joe Lumpay, our leader in the Philippines, and asked the following:
Were you or any brethren affected by the latest earthquake?
Bob Thiel
He responded with:
Dear Dr. Thiel,
No, but there were some who felt a very very slight tremor but personally I myself didn’t. Thank God we were safe.
Joe
While that is good news, the death’s from this quake are a sober reminder that life is fleeting. Consider also the words of Jesus:
1 There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:1-5)
Your situation can change. You can perish. Do not put off full repentance as YOU may not have as much time to become a true Philadelphian Christian as you might think.
We know that Jesus prophesied earthquakes in various places (Mark 13:8)–and there was also one off of Cuba this week. Notice some statements in my article 26 items to prophetically watch in 2026:
5. Earthquakes and Volcanoes
Jesus taught:
7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. (Matthew 24:7).
Then there are also smaller volcanoes, such as Mt. Rainer, which are believed to have massive potential for disasters themselves.
Many moderns, ‘experts’ and otherwise, do not think such disasters could happen–at least not in their lifetimes.
But they are wrong. Notice what the Apostle Peter was inspired to write:
1 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation — as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen. (2 Peter 3:1-18).
Things will not remain as they have. Yellowstone could erupt–BIG TIME! …
Ultimately, a massive earthquake will hit:
18 And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. 19 Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. 20 Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. (Revelation 16:18-20)
Notice that the above earthquake is so big that the cities of the nations will fall. Mountains will be leveled and islands “fled away” (more on this can be found in the article Islands and Bible Prophecy). This seems to be the biggest earthquake that will ever hit the planet with humans on it. Despite the view of ‘preterists’ that this already happened (see The Dangerous Rise of Preterists), that is nonsense.
The earthquake of Revelation 16 will be bigger than what the usual “experts” have believed was possible. It will change the planet and humble parts of humanity.
Is a black swan just another pretty bird? Well, yes, but a black swan event has a totally different meaning. A black swan event is described by Britannica.com as: “A black swan event is an unexpected and highly impactful event. It is characterized by its extreme rarity, severe consequences, and the tendency for people to rationalize it only in hindsight.” Would a massive earthquake or the eruption of a super volcano qualify as a black swan event? The answer is yes. One black swan event that poses a risk right now are the massive super volcanos long overdue to erupt and another black swan event is the tectonic plates that are generating incredible pressure as they grind against each other and will result in massive earthquakes. The United States has both the massive Yellowstone super volcano and the San Andreas Fault as well as the Ring of Fire. Could a black swan event jeopardize the very existence of the United States? Is it possible one or more events could set the United States up for an invasion from the King of the North? Does the Bible foretell of an earthquake so large and powerful that mountains are leveled and the islands fled away? The beginning of these events is referred to as “The Beginning of Sorrows” and will lead up to the “Great Tribulation”. These are some of the many signs Jesus gave us to help prepare us for His return. Dr. Thiel gives us understanding of some of the signs to watch for as he goes into detail on these events and shines the light of Bible Prophecy on helping the Christian understand the times we are in and prepare for Christ’s return. Read the full article to this video titled ’Yellowstone super volcano, Cascadia subduction zone, New Madrid Fault, and San Andreas earthquake risk: What if the US was hit by more than one ‘big one’?’
37 And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch! (Mark 13:37)
Ethiopia
Deacon Koang Deng sent the following from Ethiopia:
Dear Elders and members.
I am very happy when I heard the growth and the increase of the number of our members Bilcay camp.
There in the camp, many members of cog7 day understood the missed words of truth which they experiences in their church for the teaching of Jesus’s gospel about the humans salvation and the teaching for the of his coming Kingdom.
Now more members, women and younger men see some differences between these two groups like the teaching of salvation for humanity and God’s Holy Days celebration in that area.
Now, I made a plan to go there and to see our members before the arrival of the feast of Tabernacles.
Thanks you,
Deacon Koang
Koang Deng was part of the Church of God, Seventh Day (CG7) before becoming part of the Continuing Church of God (CCOG). He has been quite effective in explaining from the Bible to those with CG7 ties why the CCOG is more scripturally appropriate.
Malawi Trip
Molanji, Malawi congregation
Evangelist Evans Ochieng visited various CCOG leaders in Malawi and also taught the Molanji congregation last Sabbath. He sent the following report:
Pastor Dr Bob
Yesterday I attended the sabbath services in molanji with molozwa, Machemba, wahera and Like Likuva.
This the group which was lead by Machemba and wahera. When they heard that I’m in Malawi, they told Machemba that I must meet them before I go back in Kenya. It’s a group which was with hope of Israel and after realizing that in hope of Israel there are no proper teachings, alot of fake promises and assassination of other churches of God characters without any proper reasons they decided to leave. And that’s why they called molozwa and Machemba to meet with them before. And when they heard that I’m in Malawi, they had me to meet them.
I taught so many things concerning why wer are church of God, what’s the difference between church of God and protestants, repentance and reconciliation, the badness of divorce.
People were excited about the teachings and they said that this is the true church of God.
After that we spoken a lot about how the church can behave and how the gospel is preached.
The people were very happy.
Again since they were just under shade they beg if we can help them with iron sheets to make a hall where they do the services. I told them that we are going to talk about it and if possible we assist them.
But I was very happy with that group and their behaviors. They showed up the respect of God.
Evans
Allow me to add that several people that Evans Ochieng met with before the Sabbath, stated that the reports some have insisted on that our main leader in Malawi had another woman was not the case. I only mention that because some on the internet keep repeating that tale–and we know the Bible warns against being a talebearer (Leviticus 19:16).
Yet, of course, Jesus warned that those trying to be faithful would be spoke against:
11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:11-12)
Evans Ochieng was also able to meet Sosten Libungwa who is recovering from an injury he was hospitalized for earlier this Spring. He is not over it, but looks to be in the process of recovering.
Burundi
As mentioned last year, the government of Burundi changed their laws requirements for churches to be legally function and be registered there. Augustin Mpawenimana began the process for us.
Augustin Mpawenimana and Evans Ochieng
The laws now basically state that a church with a foreign connection must have at least 500 persons, land, and a building (and maybe multiple ones), in order to register so it can legally operate. This is something I started to speak with Aaron Dean of UCG about a couple of years ago. And we talked again about this on Monday after Augustin Mpawenimana sent me an updated email on the situation (Aaron Dean and I also discussed church history and some prophetic matters).
Like us, the United Church of God (UCG) has applied for official registration in Burundi, but still has not been approved (we have some type of temporary approval). If UCG gets some approval, then they are looking at how to meet whatever other requirements there may be. Aaron Dean told me that he would inform me when, and if, UCG gets its request for registration approved and I would tell him what is going on with the registration of the Continuing Church of God. He continues to believe that UCG should be able to cooperate with us in Burundi. As it turns out, UCG purchased land in Burundi a while back to assist its registration. He and I discussed the possibility of both groups providing some funding for building materials so the brethren from both COGs can construct a church building which both could use for services, etc.
We are NOT discussing any type of church merger, only how we may be able to cooperate so both churches will be able to legally function in Burundi. You may wish to pray about this.
Suggested Sabbath Services
Here is a suggested Sabbath day service for our scattered brethren and other interested people for this Sabbath service:
2-3 hymns (our songbook, The Bible Hymnal, contains the materials from the 1974 Bible Hymnal from the old WCG with new covers, plus ten additional hymns; there is also some Choral Accompaniment online).
Note: If you have a slow internet connection, you can watch these by starting the video, then below it (and towards the right) look for an outline of a gear–if you click on that, it will allow the YouTube video to be played with lower video quality, but at least it will not stop often–you can select a quality as low as 144p. If your internet connection is still too slow (as my home one is) and/or you prefer audio messages to audio-visuals ones, go to the YouTube link for the message, click on SHOW MORE related to the description. You will then see something that says, “Download MP3.” Below that is a link to an MP3 file. Most computers (and even some cellular telephones) will allow MP3 files to be downloaded and played. This is an option we have made available (but we are also looking into ways to improve that as well)–and, of course, we have written article options. Some people have found that if their internet connections are not fast enough, that they can simply listen to the messages that are found at the Bible News Prophecy online radio channel.
IN CASE YOU DO NOT RECEIVE A ‘LETTER TO THE BRETHREN’ FOR ANY WEEK, REMEMBER THAT THERE ARE MANY SERMON MESSAGES ON THE ContinuingCOG channel AND MANY SERMONETTE MESSAGES ON THE Bible News Prophecy channel. There are also some messages at the CCOGAfrica channel. There are also messages in the Spanish language at the CDLIDDSermones channel.
World News Items
Pope Leo XIV is in Spain. Over the weekend, he called for Europe to find its ‘Christian’ roots (see Pope Leo XIV wants Europe to be the Vatican’s type of Christian and look at its ‘roots’). That is consistent with calls from some other past pontiffs, as well as consistent with Church of God teachings that the Vatican would support the coming European Beast power.
Yesterday, Pope Leo consecrated what is now considered to be the tallest church in the world. It also has a five story tall cross on it that illuminates (see Pope Leo consecrates Sagrada Familia cross building). Crosses are getting more “acceptable” to groups like the SDAs who adopted a cross as part as their logo about 3 decades ago as well as the Mormons who made some changes this year (see also Pope Leo consecrates Sagrada Familia cross building).
Centuries ago, some Church of God people considered the cross to be the mark of the beast (see also Mark of the Beast) and one may be a or the mark of the beast.
Concluding Comments
In the time of the Apostle Paul, the Roman empire kept order, sometimes harshly and sometimes improperly. Yet he wrote:
1 I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings, be made for all men;
2 for kings and all that are in high place; that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and gravity.
3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
4 who would have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:1-4).
Brethren, please remember to pray for others, including political leaders that you do not care for, as “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour.”
