Kicking off June with a blast from the past.

Oh… these aren’t job interview tips… although maybe they apply here too.

In 2006 I was interviewed on a Christian Radio Station in Latvia.  I was pretty honored.  I played a live version of a song I wrote, and then they played a recording I had made too.  They’d ask me questions in Latvian which would be translated for me.  I would respond.  And then my response would be translated.  The final show they cut out the translation of the original question in Latvian.  I can’t find the full interview but I did dig up this one clip, you can check it out below.  Haha.  Funny.  You’ll hear the early 2000’s screamo influence in a song I wrote in my twenties.  

My friends Chris Bischoff and Mark Krebs were in the studio with me.  We were there because Chris was a missionary in Latvia at the time and my friend Mark and I were there to work with them.  I remember them being a little offended that I didn’t mention them in the interview and that was a huge oversight of mine.  I was excited and only focused on me.

I had an American Government and economics teacher in high school named Mr. Bryant.  I think that was his name… I can’t remember if it was or not.  There are a few things I remember from his class.

The very first class he took one chair out of the room.  I was most likely intentionally late to class and so I didn’t have a seat.  It was a lesson on scarcity.

Mr Bryant was also the varsity baseball coach and I remember him teaching how he instructed all of his players on how to do an interview.  The local newspapers would show up often looking for a story.  It’s been well over 10 years since I took this class so here’s what I remember.  He outlined 3 steps that I remember and I add two more at the end.

1.  Speak positively about the other team

Start your interview off by speaking highly of the other team.  Don’t come off as arrogant.  I think this applies to any interview by simply thanking whoever is interviewing you for taking the time to do so.

2.  Talk about your team mates

You didn’t get here alone.  You might be the star of the game and that’s why they are interviewing you, but you just shared the field with other players who helped you win the game.

In the Latvian Radio interview, I wouldn’t be there if Chris and his wife Lydia hadn’t committed to that country and done the hard work to make connections.  And Mark was a huge support to me, he even showed me some of the chords that I was using in one of my songs.  Sorry guys.

3.  Talk about you

After you’ve honored others then you can talk about yourself.

4.  Honor those who got you to where you are

If someone has played a big role in your life, then share that in the interview.  If there is a book or resource that has helped shape you or inspire you share that in the interview too.

5.  Have interview questions ready for the interviewer

I remember reading a Michael Hyatt blog post about interviews where he says to not assume that the interviewer has read your book, and to send them interview questions ahead of time.  For some reason this blew my mind, but it makes sense.  I just did an interview for my podcast Doing Ministry Well with Fr. John an Orthodox Priest and I wanted to share about Orthodoxy with our listeners but didn’t even really know where to start.  He sent me a list of questions to ask him to get started and that was a huge help.

Don’t forget to check out the 5 minute clip of my interview below.  hahahahahaha

Have you ever been interviewed live or in print?  What are some tips you would share?

Here are 3 ways to grow as a leader.  Because I’m in full time ministry my slant is ministry leadership, however, I think these 3 tips can be applied or slightly altered to be relevant for any leader.

I fully believe that the best leaders keep growing.  In an upcoming Doing Ministry Well interview with Derek Schoenhoff he says something along the lines of in todays day and age there is no excuse to not grow in your leadership.  I agree.  Leading people is a serious task.  Don’t make the mistake in thinking you’ve arrived.  Be intentional about growing in your leadership.

1.  Read books on leadership

Carve out some intentional time either daily, or weekly to read part of a book on leadership.  If you know you’ll struggle to make that time to read, ask someone else to read the book with you and discuss it weekly.  Reading books on leadership is an amazing way to grow as a leader.  You get years of experience from people in various types of leadership condensed down for you where you can read it on your own time.  I’d suggest at a minimum reading one book on leadership annually.

Conviction To Lead – Albert Mohler – I recently read this book with two friends from Maryland.  It was a solid read that covered a lot of different aspects of leadership.  I highly recommend it.

Seven Practices Of Effective Ministry – Andy Stanley – I got this book as a graduation gift.  I scoffed at the title in my head because at the time everyone was raging against bulleted lists.  I was pleasantly surprised when I read it.  The first chapter entitled Clarify The Win has been foundational in my leadership.

The 21 Irrefutable Laws Of Leadership – John Maxwell – The number one hit on Amazon for leadership.  It has 512 reviews with a 4.5 star rating.  I need to pick this up.

2.  Read blogs on leadership

Maybe books aren’t your forte.  I’d still discipline yourself to read.  Ron Smith wrote a book called Read To Lead and talks about 7 people from history who had ferocious reading habits.

Blog formats are much easier to read, shorter and usually formatted for skimming.  Set up an RSS feeder (I use feedly) and check in often to your favorite leadership blogs to be learning more about leadership from other leaders.  Don’t forget to add this blog too

Below are some of my favorites, as well as some other popular ones.

Ron Edmonson – My absolute favorite ministry leadership blog.  Easy to read and always relevant.

Micahel Hyatt – I used to follow this blog a lot, but haven’t recently, great content on productivity

John Maxwell – I don’t follow this blog, but as soon as I think of the word leadership, John Maxwell comes to mind

3.  Meet with leaders you respect on a regular basis

Do you have a weekly or monthly meeting set up where you meet with people that are more experienced than you and inspire you?  If you don’t set one up soon!

I love getting involved in pastors meetings.   When I lived in NY and was pastoring at a church in PA, I met monthly with the NY pastors and also monthly with a small group of PA pastors.  Now that I’m living in Hawaii I try to make it to The Gospel Coalition monthly pastors meetings.  It’s great to sit among ministry peers and have lunch and hear a speaker talk on a topic that is very relevant to the field your in.

I also meet weekly with Pastor RK who serves as an inspiration to me.  We can in real time bounce ideas off one another, share about our ministry struggles, and share what we’re learning or what resources we’ve been inspired by.

Don’t be a lone leader.  Leadership is a serious calling, with a ton of challenges.  Have people in your life that you can go to for specific advice on your situation.  Seek out that counsel and adhere to it.  Find ministry mentors.  Ask them to meet with you and tell them you will buy the meal or coffee.  

Are you already implementing these steps?  Or which step do you need to implement?  Please recommend your favorite leadership resource in the comments!

If you haven’t already check out this weeks episode of Doing Ministry Well!  This week we interview Judy Smith.  She talks about a discipline of gratefulness and also tells her side of the story of her husbands near death encounter.  If you haven’t yet PLEASE rate, comment and subscribe on Itunes to keep up with the most recent episodes!

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7 Ways To Honor Your Pastor’s Wife – Ron Edmondson http://bit.ly/1KKLH80

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Funny picture choice, but good words: 5 Words of Encouragement to the Church Planter or Young Leader – Ron Edmondson http://bit.ly/1cUX1nL

Are you liking Wednesday links?  Did you find any of these links useful?  Let us know in the comments!

Yesterday in the US we took the day to remember our veterans who paid the ultimate price for our freedom and liberties, to that I say thank you.

However, I can’t help but think of the ONE who set the ultimate example of sacrifice and paid a price no one else could pay to buy us true freedom.

This verse from Revelation 12 also  reminds me of the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us in following His example.  They loved not their own lives so much as to shrink back from death.

They triumphed over him
    by the blood of the Lamb
    and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.

I am a Christian today because of the testimony of Rachel Scott a high school student killed in Columbine.  I found out yesterday that there’s controversy surrounding if anyone actually “said yes.”  But nonetheless, she was targeted because she was a Christian.

I think of the recent martyrdom of coptic Christians at the hands of ISIS.

Tertullian wrote “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church”

I’m grateful for those that have given their lives in the interests of our national freedoms.  I am becoming more patriotic the older I get.  But we cannot forget the Christians world wide that have given their lives for the sake of the gospel.  I love our country, but the priority order of things for me is God then country.

Steve Gregg said this in one of his teachings and it really rings true to me.  “Patriotism is often a blatant form of idolatry.  Parents will send their kids off to die for their country but not to the mission field.”

Some, and I intentionally say some, because I know it’s not all, of the same Christians that herald the military  are the same ones that think missionaries should go get a real job.  Obviously no parent wants to send their child off to far away lands for whatever the reason.  I obviously have no understanding because I’m not a parent but I hope to be like the Moravians who stood at the shore and sent the missionaries from their community off with their coffins saying “That He would receive the just reward of His suffering.”

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Jess and I along with 40,000 other people descended upon Ala Moana beach park for the lantern festival last night.  It was strange to see the beach we most often go to filled with that many people.  It was even stranger for it to take almost 3 hours to get out of the parking garage.

I was amazed that during the festival there was but one lone American flag flying and that was from a vet that brought his own.  There was no real mention of America, I thought surely they would raise the flag and we’d sing the National Anthem or something.  It was more about ancestors and loved ones than service men.  I found it funny that barely anyone clapped when they recognized honored guests, one of whom was the state governor David Ige.

The hour ceremony before hand was televised, tv personalities articulated so clearly, polished and practiced that it seemed inauthentic.  Her holiness Shinso Ito presided over the ceremony.  She had a long speech that was translated that I wish they would have put a stricter time limit on.  It made me realize that I really live in a bubble and that many peoples world views are so drastically different than mine.  It made me wonder why the world is so open to other world religions but not Christianity.

Not everyone there was Buddhist, there was a conglomeration of Hawaiian traditions and buddhist traditions presented from the front.  Mainly it seemed that people were there for the collective experience.  People wrote words of remembrance for deceased loved ones on lanterns and sent them into the sea.

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My own family remembered a tragic loss this memorial day.  It’s been 3 years since we lost my niece Eryka to some pretty horrific circumstances.

But I have hope, and that hope is found in the gospel.  I leave you with the words of the Apostle Paul from 1 Corinthians 15

 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.  Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—  in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.  For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”[i]

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

How did you celebrate your memorial day?  Let us know in the comments.

IMG 5393 from Jim and Jess Baker on Vimeo.

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Respond with a video update!  And let us know how you’re doing!  Do you prefer the video update or the written update?  Let us know in the comments!

How do I do care ministry?  You might have asked this question.

Our friends Blake and Jenni just had their first baby.  But there were some complications.  Baby Annelyse was born and didn’t have a heart beat for the first 20 or so minutes.  They are still in the NICU with her.  They are a family that is full of faith.  You can follow their journey here.  Please be praying for a full recovery!

We’ve made it our Sunday evening ritual to take them dinner and sit in the lobby with them and eat, and then go spend some time with Annelyse and pray for her.

Horrific hardships are happening all around you.  Don’t let people go through them alone.

Here’s some steps on how to care for people during hard times.

1.  Ask

Ask what you can do for them.  Don’t just assume that something you want to do for them will be well received.  Just because you would like to be treated a certain way does not mean that they will.  Some people are private, and some people want the company.  During this time of tragedy be extra sensitive.

2.  Listen

Be available to listen.  There is a lot of processing that needs to happen in the event of tragedy.  Don’t come with your advice guns blazing.  If they want advice they will ask for it.  But in this hard time don’t give unwarranted opinions and advice.  Just listen.

3.  Don’t Be Afraid Of  Silence

Don’t be afraid of silence.  Sometimes a simple hug and allowing someone to cry on your shoulder is enough.  Crying with them is good too.  Don’t make the person going through tragedy feel like they need to entertain you or make you comfortable.  Don’t be afraid to simply be present.

4.  Serve

Meal ministry seems to be a thing of the past.  I remember when my mom had surgery, every night someone from the church brought our family dinner.  Ask what you can do for the people involved.  Sometimes they might be to bashful to ask.  While you’re listening, be intentional about listening to things that they might say they need.  You might have to ask them directly if you can bring them a meal.  Ask them what they’d like and make it happen.  Try and see if you can alleviate any other burdens from them.

5.  Be consistent

There is usually an initial overwhelming outpouring when bad things happen.  But it doesn’t stop after that.  Be committed to walking with the family through the tragedy.

What other steps would you suggest when walking with someone through a tragedy?  How have you been cared for that you would recommend during hard times?  Or on the flip side, what is something that someone has done that people should avoid?  Let us know in the comments.

I suck at drawing boundaries too.

If you’re in ministry please listen to this podcast by Danny Silk.

It’s entitled:  The Art Of Self Control

Did you listen?  What do you think?  Comment and let us know!

I’m going to try something new on Wednesdays.  I’m going to link to blog posts that I’ve shared the week prior on social media, things that I’ve found useful and maybe you will too.  I’ll also share the most recent episode of my podcast Doing Ministry Well which gets released each Wednesday.  And I’ll also share any articles that I’ve found interesting.

Here’s a new episode of Doing Ministry Well where we interview Ron Smith the founder of the School of Biblical Studies.  If you haven’t yet PLEASE rate, comment and subscribe on Itunes to keep up with the most recent episodes!

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I AGREE!  “The problem is I’m an introvert taking on an extrovert’s life.” Donald Millers thoughts on Introversion –> http://bit.ly/1ATjmqK

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Since we’ve been talking about hearing God’s voice | 7 Ways to Distinguish God’s Voice – Ron Edmondson http://bit.ly/1PHfakN

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And one I didn’t post on social media but found interesting:  International Mission Board Drops Ban On Speaking In Tongues –> http://bit.ly/1L7xdjr

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The Rise and Fall Of American Christianity –> http://bit.ly/1IG9R6r | Good read… here’s an excerpt

“The point is that while the percentage of Christians in America was near its highest — the moral state of our society was far from “Christian.”

In many ways, today’s America is more Christian than at any previous moment in its history! Slavery and segregation has been abolished, gender inequality is on the decline, the wage gap has decreased, church communities are more diverse than ever, and people’s rights and opportunities related to education, jobs, and opportunities are better than ever (but there’s still a long way to go).

For Christians, the most worrying aspect about the Pew Research Report shouldn’t be that Christianity is declining, but that the population of those claiming to be Christian hasn’t historically affected the nation in a very Christ-like way.”

Do you like Wednesday Links?  Let me know in the comments.

[photo from a school of photography assignment 2008]

I’m glad that there’s more information about introverts out there.  There’s even a whole book written on the topic.  Called Quiet: The Power Of Introverts In A World That Can’t Stop Talking  The author Susan Cain also did a Ted Talk on introversion as well.

She says that 1/3 to 1/2 of the world are introverts.

I listened to a podcast recently about drawing boundaries by Danny Silk.  Ministry seems to be a place where boundaries are hard to place.  I’ll dedicate a whole other blog post to that podcast.

I realized I need to draw better boundaries.  I’m at my best when I have alone time to think, to write.  It’s like a mental detox for me.  If I don’t get that alone and quiet time, I feel mentally constipated, and overstimulated, anxious even.

That doesn’t mean that I don’t like people.  I love people.  I just have to draw boundaries of how much time I spend with others.  I’m a quality time guy.  If I’m going to give you quality time when we’re together, I need to not feel spent and overstimulated. Maybe when I’m not getting that quiet and alone time I do see people as a threat.  Which I understand could be seen as me not liking people.

My wife Jess is an extrovert.  But we often get mistaken as I’m the extrovert and she’s the introvert.  That’s because Jess is being extroverted all day long and during her down times, she wants to be recharge.  Whereas, I’m being introverted all day long, and when I have free time, I like to venture out and see people.

I once observed a toddler tell her mother that she needed to go into another room and read.  I smiled and said “aww you’re a little introvert.”  That comment brought out momma bear.  “All kids are like that, there’s nothing abnormal about that!”

Abnormal?

I apologized to the mother, because I could obviously see that I upset her, I was not intending to insult her child.  However I left feeling a bit insulted, that introversion is seen as abnormal.

Yet 1/3 to 1/2 of people in the world are introverts.

It’s funny that introverts are considered recluses or socially inept.  I’ve heard people say those things, quite rudely about others.  I’m neither of those things, but I am an introvert.

What’s worse than feeling anxious because you aren’t getting what you need?  Feeling guilty because of it.

There are different levels of introversion, and there are different seasons I go through where I will need more or less alone time to feel charged.  But how come the extroverts get to rule?  Why can’t I tell the extrovert to stop being so pushy, stop talking so much and to be quiet?

I think in 30 years of living, I’m finally realizing what I need to be the best me.  But drawing those boundaries are hard.

I wrote about some of the things I need to be the best me in this post three years ago.  They haven’t changed.  But there’s still this tinge of guilt.  That I should be able to be the best me no matter the circumstances.

Maybe this all boils down to fear of man.  I care to much about what other people think of me.

What do you think?  Comment and let us know!

If I had this, I could do that…

If I had more money I’d be more generous.

If I had a bigger house I’d be more hospitable.

If I had a new camera I’d be better at taking photos.

If I had a new computer I’d write more.

Steven Pressfield writes in his book The War Of Art:

“It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write.”

Are you going to be ridiculously generous when you have more money?  I think we’re all tempted to increase our own standard of living before we change that standard for anyone else.  But if you really want to give, you could start giving now when you don’t think you have enough.

Are you going to be more hospitable when you have a giant home?  Or will the bigger and nicer home, the one that you’ve worked very hard for, cause you to not want people messing it up.  Start practicing hospitality with what you have now.

I used to think if I had a certain piece of photography gear it would improve my photography.  While a new piece of gear might serve as a novelty for a short while and get me out the door to use it, it doesn’t beat the discipline of getting out everyday and shooting and honing your craft.

I honestly had this thought a couple of weeks ago.  I need a new computer to write.  It was probably a subconscious excuse for being scared to write more.  I think we subconsciously put road blocks in our way to productivity, and justify them.  So I’m sitting at starbucks with my 15″ miracle computer that is quite worn, but is still kicking, plugged in because the battery doesn’t hold a charge anymore and putting words down on “paper.”

Blah blah blah.  Do the stuff.  If you do it well, maybe it will open up doors for you to have the stuff you want, and in the meantime you’re doing what you ultimately wanted to do in the first place.

What excuses are you making?  What ship are you waiting to come in until you do something you really want to do?  Let us know in the comments.