The Secret to Growing Lots of Tomatoes

About a month ago, Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida with sustained winds of 155mph causing lots of destruction. Southwest Florida was devastated.

Thankfully, we were spared much of that damage here in Central Florida. By the time Ian arrived here, the winds had been downgraded to a tropical storm. Much of the damage sustained in the surrounding area was due to flooding. A pastor/friend who lives on the next block over was flooded out of his house. They are still in the process of repairing the water damage. On our property, one large palm tree fell over. There were lots of broken tree limbs, but no significant damage to speak of.

Before Ian arrived, we were experiencing typical hot and humid weather conditions. After Ian left, we went straight into Fall conditions with much cooler temperatures without the high humidity.

I hauled all my tomato and pepper plants into my screened in back porch where they survived Ian nicely. After Ian left, I hauled them back outside where they have been thriving for the last month.

I think I have mentioned that we have 2 growing seasons here. We are into our Fall growing season. The tomatoes I planted in August are now producing lots of ripe fruit. I have never had a crop of tomatoes this productive since moving to Florida. I think that the biggest difference in tomato production is due to hand pollinating with an electric toothbrush. I know it sounds crazy, but it really works! Because of the high humidity here, the pollen has a tendency to stick in the flower. But if you pollinate the tomato plants about midday, when the humidity drops below 75%, then you can help the pollination process along. In other climates with lower humidity, that might not be a problem. But the guy I learned this from lives in Michigan and he swears by this method.

Blessings,

Bob

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The Problem with Heretics

The heretics were never dishonest men; they were mistaken men. They should not be thought of as men who were deliberately setting out to go wrong and to teach something that is wrong; they have been some of the most sincere men that the Church has ever known. What was the matter with them? Their trouble was this: they evolved a theory and they were rather pleased with it; then they went back with this theory to the Bible, and they seemed to find it everywhere.

―Martyn Lloyd-Jones

 

Inspired fiction?! Who knew??

Dr. James M. Gray was president of Moody Bible Institute from 1904 to 1934. He argued that “The inspiration of scripture includes the whole and every part of it.” That would include the historical account of creation found in the book of Genesis.

Dr. Gray went on to state, “Furthermore, are not the historical books in some respects the most important in the Bible? Are they not the bases of its doctrine? Does not the doctrine of sin need for its starting point the record of the fall? Thus without going further, we may say, with Dr. DeWitt of Princeton, that it is impossible to secure the religious infallibility of the Bible—which is all the objector regards as necessary—if we exclude Bible history from the sphere of its inspiration. But if we include Bible history at all, we must include the whole of it, for who is competent to separate its parts?”

In other words, it is better to take the creation account in Genesis as inspired history rather than relegating it to a genre that calls into question the inspiration of God’s Word. Sadly, several professors teaching at conservative Bible colleges today disagree with Dr. Gray on this point.

In his book, Can We Still Believe the Bible, Professor Craig Blomberg of Denver Seminary says that the Bible is still trustworthy with one caveat. He says we can still believe the Bible, but only if we learn to distinguish between inspired fiction and inspired history. According to some scholars, such as Professor Blomberg, the creation account found in the book of Genesis is simply fiction. But they do not want to come right out and say that portions of God’s Word are not inspired. So, they label the creation account in Genesis as “inspired fiction.” This faulty method of Bible interpretation is becoming more and more widespread in conservative Bible colleges that once held firmly to the inspiration of the Word of God. Examples such as this clearly demonstrate the need for sound principles of Bible interpretation.

Our Biblical Resource Group continues to meet once a week to address issues like this. We have developed several papers advocating the principles of consistent, literal, historical-grammatical Bible interpretation. We would appreciate your prayers as we work on new papers and revise existing papers.

Blessings,

Bob

* * *

Was Jesus Wrong?

If I cannot believe that what the Lord said about Jonah, the creation account, and the flood is true, then it is hard to see how I can be sure that what He said about everlasting life is true. The promise of John 3:16 hinges on the trustworthiness of the Lord Jesus Christ and of the Word of God. -Selected

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. –Matthew 12:40

He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female…” –Matthew 19:4

For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. – Matthew 24:38–39

 

How to Grow Grapes

Central Florida has 2 garden seasons—Spring and Fall. I started my spring tomato crop Feb 1st and they are finished. I am starting my Fall tomato crop now. The problem is that we often have tropical showers in the afternoon this time of the year and my poor seedlings get drenched. After a shower, I will lift my seedlings out of the mud and clean them off so that they don't die. Apparently, I am not the only one who gardens like that.

In John 15:2 Jesus said, "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away…" The N.T. Greek word translated "takes away" is airō. It means "to take up, lift up or carry away." While the idea of "to take away" is certainly a possibility, "to lift up" is also possible and actually fits the cultural practices of that day for vinedressers.

Dr. Gary Derickson wrote: "In early Israel the branches of cultivated grapes were either allowed to trail along the ground or were trained to grow over a pole. When the stems were trained along the ground the grape clusters were propped up to keep them from contacting the soil and being ruined. Trellising of vines … allowed air to flow through the branches to dry the dew more quickly."

Dr. Thomas Constable explains: "Jesus was teaching that the Father gives special support to believers who are not yet bearing fruit. In viticulture this involves lifting the branch off the ground so it will not send secondary roots down into the ground that will prove unhealthful. Lifting the branch off the ground onto a pole or trellis also enables air to dry the branch and prevent it from getting moldy and becoming diseased.

Dr. Derickson defines our 21st century problem: "Few Bible students today can point to having an agricultural background or having lived on a farm. This has led to a distinct lack of familiarity with all or most aspects of agriculture…. Since the culture of the Bible was principally agrarian, this modern unfamiliarity may contribute to misunderstanding some portions of Scripture. When interpreting difficult passages, such issues as context and lexical meanings are certainly important. But the proper use of historical and cultural data may also inform one's understanding of key terms and concepts, thereby clarifying what might otherwise be obscure or confusing in a biblical passage."

Our Biblical Resource Group, continues to work on papers advocating the principles of consistent, literal, historical-grammatical Bible interpretation. Too often folks ignore important matters such as the historical context in which God's Word was written. As good Bereans, we need to apply these sound principles as we study God's Word.

Blessings,

Bob

* * *

Sunshine, Storms and Fruit

Fruit ripens slowly; days of sunshine and days of storm each add their share. Blessing will succeed blessing, and storm follow storm before the fruit is full grown or comes to maturity.

Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:6).

 

Keeping Busy

It’s hard to believe that July is already here.

The Ethnos360 Biblical Resource Group has been busy revising numerous “position papers.” We began with 22 original papers and developed 3 new papers.

1. Staying on Track—Principles of Biblical Interpretation
2. Progressive Dispensationalism
3. Religious Pluralism

We just finished revising the last of those original 22 papers and have submitted them for approval. We are also planning on developing a new paper dealing with issues concerning salvation/justification.

Most of the position papers make reference to other articles and essays as recommended reading. I’ve been able to track down most of those resources and have included them on our members website for our missionaries to read. That was a major undertaking in itself. Those supplemental reading documents total 169 papers. Along with that, we have a section for book reviews as well as a section for inspirational articles. All told, we have 233 articles on our members website.

We have another bunch of articles written by one of our members that we would eventually like to add to our collection. We need to determine which ones are pertinent and read them for content. So, there is still more work to do. But we are definitely making progress.

Between the Biblical Resource Group projects, preaching at church, working on computer issues for our residents, and puttering around in my garden, I am keeping quite busy.

Before I retired someone warned me that it is easy to get busier in retirement than when working full-time. Now I can see why!

Blessings,

Bob

* * *

He Brought Me Here
by Andrew Murray

First He brought me here; it is by His will I am in this strait place; in that fact I will rest. Next, He will keep me here in His love, and give me grace to behave as His child. Then, He will make the trial a blessing, teaching me the grace He means to bestow. Last, in His good time He can bring me out again—how and when He knows. Let me say I am here: (1) by God’s appointment. (2) In His keeping. (3) Under His training. (4) For His time.

 

Bob’s Garden Update -- June

Last month I mentioned that it was getting too hot here in Central Florida for growing cold weather crops such as lettuce outside. However, I can still grow lettuce and other plants indoors using hydroponics.

There are two methods of hydroponics that I have used to grow lettuce, dwarf tomatoes and other plants indoors under grow lights.

One is call the Kratky method. I fill up a coffee container with water and mix in some nutrients. My dwarf tomatoes seem to do well using this method. I've tried growing lettuce using the Kratky method, but my plants have not done as well.

The second method is called "Deep Water Culture" or DWC for short. My lettuce plants love the DWC method. The main difference is that you use an air pump to supply oxygen to the roots of the plants. Plants need to breathe and without oxygen, they will drown. With the Kratky method, you leave some air space between the water level and the plant. The root system that develops between the plant and the water are known as "air roots" and that is how they breathe. But if you fill the container too full, the plants will die because they cannot get any oxygen. I can guarantee that from personal experience. I have killed several of my Kratky plants by filling their container too full.

My peppers growing outside are doing well. The tomatoes that I started outside in February are finished. I have replaced them with cherry tomatoes and some heat tolerant slicing tomatoes. I have not had a lot of success with growing slicing tomatoes here during the hot, humid summer months. Hopefully, these heat tolerant varieties will hold up better.

Blessings,

Bob

* * *

Too Much Grace
by J. F. Strombeck

One who says, "I believe in grace, but I do not think it should be emphasized too much because that leads to careless living" has failed to understand God's work of grace on behalf of all He by grace has saved from wrath.

Even among those who accept grace as the only means of salvation, exclusive of any works or merit on the part of man, there is regrettable neglect of emphasis on the fact that the spiritual life can be sustained, developed, and brought to perfection only by the operation of the same grace. Growth in spiritual life comes only by the grace of God. Peter admonished, "Grow in grace" (2 Pet. 3:18).

 

Bob’s Garden Update

I just thought I would give you an update on my garden.

Currently we are nearing the end of Central Florida's Spring garden season. Cold weather crops such as lettuce cannot handle Florida's hot, humid summers. On the other hand, peppers seem to love hot, humid weather. Only a few varieties of tomatoes which are heat tolerant will set fruit during Florida summers. The trick is figuring out which tomatoes will produce fruit during the summers here. Many cherry tomatoes will continue to set fruit during the summer months. The University of Florida has developed several varieties of tomatoes that are heat tolerant. And there are some heirloom / open pollinated that are heat tolerant as well.

I still have a few slicing tomatoes on the vine that are about to turn ripe. But most of my larger tomato plants which were put outside in February are finished. I will be replacing them with some heat tolerant plants. I am still getting cherry tomatoes, but I will need to replace those plants soon.

I have a couple of varieties of dwarf tomato plants which produce cherry tomatoes. They are doing well. But my Tiny Tim Tom tomatoes have outgrown their hydroponic system. Next time I might try growing micro dwarf tomatoes in it as they only get 8 inches tall.

While it is too hot to grow lettuce outside, I can still grow lettuce inside in my "grow closet" under grow lights. That method works well for a number of plants.

My peppers love the hot, humid weather and they are doing well. I have several varieties of hot peppers and sweet peppers.

My basil, chives, dill, rosemary, mint, and bunching onions are all doing well. I have so much basil that I am making lots of pesto, freezing it, drying it, and giving it away.

So, that's what is happening in my garden these days.

Blessings,

Bob

* * *

No Reserve

"There is no reserve in God's love; he has given the best in heaven for the worst on earth, and in this way has rebuked distrust and established confidence.  If we only want what God gives us we shall be perfectly happy.  Nothing is of real value to us that we cannot take from our Father's hand and thank him for."  — Selected

 

No Phishing

When you drive onto our property, you will see Lake Sunrise to your left with a sign that says, “No Fishing”. I kind of wish that we had another sign that says, “No Phishing”. Unfortunately, I don’t think that it would do much good.

Seniors seem to be targets of all kinds of scams, including “phishing.”

Phishing is a cybercrime that scammers use to lure sensitive information or data from you. They use phone calls, emails, text messages, etc. to get your information. Some of our seniors have been targets of these scams. But its not just limited to seniors. Some of our missionaries have had their identity stolen and large sums of money have been drained from their bank accounts. One of those missionaries spoke in chapel yesterday describing what happened to him. He also gave some helpful information on how to avoid being a victim of identity theft. I thought I would pass on a few of his suggestions.

Freeze/lock your credit profile with all three major credit bureaus.

• TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289 (press #0 to speak to live person.)

https://www.transunion.com/credit-reports-disclosures/free-credit-report

• Equifax: 1-888-202-4025 (press #6 to speak to a live-person.)

https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/free-credit-reports/

• Experian: 714-830-7000 (press #2 to speak to a live-person)

https://www.experian.com/consumer-products/free-credit-report.html

Freeze your banking profile with ChexSystems: 1-800-428-9623

Request a Tax ID Pin with the IRS via ID.ME

• https://api.id.me/en/registration/new

Create a new account then follow prompts to request an IRS PIN

Put a freeze on your utility profile with NCTUE

https://www.exchangeservicecenter.com/Freeze/

Enable notifications with ALL sensitive accounts.

• Your financial institutions (transactions & new logins)
• Online shopping vendors (orders & new logins)
• Email, Google, Microsoft, Apple... (new logins)
• Social media (new logins)

Enable 2-Factor authentication for ALL sensitive accounts. (Wherever possible)

• Your financial institutions
• Online shopping vendors
• Email, Google, Microsoft, Apple...
• Social media

Make sure your contact information is up-to-date for ALL sensitive accounts.

• Your financial institutions
• Online shopping vendors
• Email, Google, Microsoft, Apple...
• Social media

Update every password so it is unique and sufficiently complex

• Your financial institutions
• Online shopping vendors
• Email, Google, Microsoft, Apple...
• Social media

I realize that last one is nearly impossible, especially if your memory is like mine.

I just watched an IT webinar on password security. Did you know that the average person in the U.S. has 70 different passwords that they have to remember? And if you’re like me, you probably have a favorite password that you use over and over and over again. That is an absolute “no no,” if you want to protect yourself from cyber thieves.

So what is a person to do? There are a number of password management apps that will store your passwords for you in a secure vault. The one I use is called LastPass. It is also the one that our IT department recommends. For years I have been using the free version. Just recently, I purchased the premium version which costs $36 per year.

You can get LastPass here: https://lastpass.com

BTW, when your web browser asks you to store that password for you, it is best to say “no.” That is not a secure method of storing passwords.

Since I am one of the IT consultants here at our retirement center, I thought I would pass on a few things that I have learned. Hope you find this helpful.

Blessings,

Bob

* * *

Hold Tight to Jesus

By Charles Spurgeon

It appears almost impossible that those who have been redeemed by the blood of the dying Lamb and loved with an everlasting love by the eternal Son of God could forget that gracious Savior; but if startling to the ear, sadly it is too apparent to the eye to allow us to deny the crime. Some other love steals away your heart, and you are unmindful of Him upon whom your affection ought to be set. Some earthly business engrosses your attention when you ought to be fixed steadily upon the cross. It is the incessant turmoil of the world, the constant attraction of earthly things that takes the soul away from Christ. While memory works to preserve a poisonous weed, it allows the rose of Sharon (Christ) to wither. Let us charge ourselves to tie a heavenly forget-me-not around our hearts for Jesus our Beloved, and whatever else we let slip, let us hold tight to Him.