2 CORINTHIANS IN A NUTSHELL (NEW TESTAMENT IN A NUTSHELL)

In this sermon, Pastor Aaron Vriesman provides an introduction to and overview of Paul's second letter to the believers at Corinth and the surrounding area, including information on the background of this epistle. 

1 CORINTHIANS IN A NUTSHELL (NEW TESTAMENT IN A NUTSHELL)

In this sermon, Pastor Aaron Vriesman provides an introduction to and overview of Paul's first letter to the Corinthian church.

A few quibbles and disagreements:

First of all, as I have already written before on this blog, I would argue that 1 Corinthians 7 is more about the issue of Christians living a celibate, cloistered lifestyle.

I would contend that chapter 10 is more about different warnings from Israel's history.

I would say that chapter 11 actually concerns the question of whether or not Christians, who answer to and obey God, still have to follow their society's rules of etiquette.

As well, Pastor Vriesman, being a pastor and Christian Reformed, says you need to belong to a church organization, and a denominational one at that. As regular readers know, I disagree with this position. Rather, and I think this book of the Bible speaks to this, Christians should, in their hearts, truly belong to their local church, meaning to all the Christians in their town and the surrounding area. Paul was not writing to a specific manmade organization as we have come to define church. Rather, the apostle addressed his epistle to all the believers at Corinth and the surrounding area. 

ROMANS IN A NUTSHELL (NEW TESTAMENT IN A NUTSHELL)

In this sermon, Pastor Aaron Vriesman provides an overview of Romans, the Gospel of Christ laid out in a letter. 

I would just caution readers that, for one thing, Pastor Vriesman is Christian Reformed, so be careful regarding his one-time mention of predestination. 

Also, be discerning about what Pastor Vriesman says on the subject of Jews and "anti-Semitism." 

ACTS IN A NUTSHELL (NEW TESTAMENT IN A NUTSHELL)

In this sermon, Pastor Aaron Vriesman provides an introduction to the Book of Acts, including a summary as well as discussion of its themes, particularly giving glory to the Holy Spirit. 

RADIO-RELATED STUFF: MI HAVEN'T POSTED ONE OF THESE IN A WHILE BECAUSE MY INTEREST IN RADIO HAS DECREASED SO MUCH

Congratulations to Lindsay Heron on becoming the afternoon newscaster on 95.5 and Cool 100 Belleville.

Picked up 96.1 The Breeze Buffalo Monday night with adult contemporary music.

Picked up K-Love Buffalo last night with Christian contemporary music and female anncr taking live phone calls including from a kid on his birthday.

Picked up the Family Life station from upstate New York on 88.5 this evening with automated Christian contemporary music.

Picked up Froggy 97 Watertown with "Seven Till Midnight" with automated country music and commercials including for Jefferson County Fair. 

WOMAN SOWS ROOMMATE'S LIPS SHUT

New York Post

 

Twisted woman sews roommate’s lips shut in horrifying attack in Japan

By Chris Nesi

Published July 9, 2026, 12:54 p.m. ET

 

A twisted Japanese woman sewed her roommate’s lips shut “with a needle and thread,” sending the victim rushing out into the streets with a hand-written sign reading “please help me.”

 

The 42-year-old victim was initially too scared to flee the house in the eastern prefecture of Ibaraki in Tokyo’s northeast because she was too terrified of her 49-year-old roommate, Masae Sakurai, according to reports.

 

But once Sakurai wasn’t home, the sewed-up woman managed to escape, put on a white mask to hide the gruesome sight and rush to a nearby shop, NHK reported.

 

Unable to speak, the victim held up her handwritten help sign, prompting an employee to call police, NHK reported.

 

She then told police that Sakurai “became angry over a trouble and my lips were sewed,” according to the Telegraph.

 

Local media reported her mouth had been pierced with a needle several times, entering her skin underneath her nose and exiting through the bottom of her lower lip.

 

The threading was done in such a way that it passed through the inside of her mouth, which made it difficult to see the string.

 

It was not immediately clear how Sakurai managed to pull off the attack, nor what “trouble” angered her, but she was arrested on suspicion of assault.

 

The women had been living together since April, Kyodo News wrote.

 

People who know Sakurai told TV Asahi that she would often let people who ran away from home stay with her, and even helped them find jobs, one of her former coworkers telling the outlet she had a penchant for “taking care of girls who have nowhere to go after reaching out to their parents.”

FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR JUMPS FROM PLANE TO HIS DEATH, LEAVING STUDENT PILOT TO LAND PLANE BY HERSELF

New York Post

 

Flight instructor jumps to his death during lesson, leaving student pilot to land plane by herself

By Nicholas McEntyre

Published July 9, 2026, 4:31 a.m. ET

 

An Argentinian flight instructor jumped out of a plane to his death in the middle of a flying lesson — after telling his student, “You know what you have to do,” and leaving her to land the aircraft by herself.

 

Leandro Andrés Bertazzo was identified as the instructor who bailed out of the Cessna 150G aircraft over the central Argentinian town of Toledo on July 4, abandoning his underling in the process, the Attorney General Carlos Gonella’s office announced.

 

“You know what you have to do, carry on,” Bertazzo told 22-year-old Rosario, Argentinian outlet Todos Noticias (TN) reported.

 

Bertazzo then unbuckled from his seat, removed his headset, opened the plane door and jumped out.

 

Rosario, who has a private pilot’s license, alerted officials at the Flying Parrot flight school in Córdoba to the mid-air tragedy and was guided through emergency protocols to safely land the training plane.

 

The student was left shaken over the traumatic incident, but was commended for her ability to pilot the aircraft safely to the ground.

 

“Very clear, decisive, mature, and professional,” Flying Parrot director Eduardo Álvarez said of Rosario, according to the outlet. “She was very shaken, but with complete professionalism, she piloted the plane to the airfield and landed perfectly. She maintained a very high level of training and professionalism.”

 

Álvarez spotted Bertazzo’s body during a search flight roughly 15 minutes after the jump and reported the location to first responders a field in a rural area of Córdoba.

 

Bertazzo was pronounced dead at the scene.

 

Álvarez, who worked closely with Bertazzo, didn’t understand why his instructor jumped out of the plane.

 

“He made this tragic decision aboard an aircraft with one other person by his side. There’s no way to think about it or understand it, but the human mind is so complex, so treacherous. That’s why what happened, happened,” Álvarez said, according to the outlet.

 

Prosecutors have opened an investigation into Bertazzo’s death after seizing the aircraft to determine the circumstances leading up to the fatal plunge, the attorney general said Tuesday.

 

Bertazzo allegedly had been suffering mentally and had checked himself into a clinic for mental health, unbeknownst to anyone but his close relatives, the outlet reported.

 

“He had been in a neuropsychiatric institute, but nobody knew about it. Only his family,” Álvarez revealed.

 

Bertazzo kept his struggles hidden as no one at the flight school noticed anything off with him.

 

“There’s a very close student-instructor relationship in a professional sense, but none of those who flew with him, nor those of us who saw him, could detect that he was going to make that decision to jump out of an aircraft. Obviously, something was up,” Álvarez told TN.

 

The training plane was left undamaged, including the door.

 

Officials were mystified by Bertazzo’s jump, saying it is difficult to open the aircraft’s doors midflight, comparing it to opening a car door while driving roughly 125 mph.

 

Bertazzo was a veteran pilot with years of experience and multiple licenses, including working as an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP), a first-class commercial pilot, and a flight instructor.

 

He briefly worked in neighboring Chile during his career, the outlet reported.

 

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis and live in New York City, you can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside the five boroughs, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.