the BAKERS | www.jimjessbaker.com

hey everyone

www.jimjessbaker.com is going to be down for a bit…

but you can still access the blog here http://jimjessbaker.blogspot.com

Hey everyone! 

My parents left recently, we had such a great visit with them and miss them.  

Jess and I are getting back into the swing of things.  We’ve got a new Discipleship Training School running with 16 students.  

I hope 2014 is treating you amazingly!  I’m going to get back into a good blog groove soon!  

blessings!

YAY!!!  Cue the windows winning solitaire fireworks!  

I set a goal in the beginning of 2013 to blog over 100 times in 2013 and I did it!  

I didn’t reach all of my goals for 2013, but I definitely feel like I made progress.  2014 is going to be an even better year.  

I’ve got a blog surprise for you in the New Year, be looking for it!  

Have an amazing and productive 2014!!  

Merry Christmas everyone!  Here’s a video from Mighty Mo Coffee, which one of my friends just started up.  I love how worshipful it gets when the singer starts singing “oh night divine.”  

Thank you Jesus for coming to the earth as fragile baby, to save us from and pay for the sins of the world.  That our lives would be lived in honor of You.  

Merry Christmas 

Are you having an awesome Christmas?  What’s the highlight?  Let us know in the comments.  

Here are 10 posts that I was proud of this year that didn’t make the popular list.  

1.  Technology Is Horrible Click Here To Find Out Why I Want To Be Amish
2.  Honest Thoughts On Street Evangelism
3.  How To Help The Police At The Scene Of A Crime
4.  What A 911 Operator Wants You To Know
5.  Lessons I Learned From Calling 911 | An Elderly Lady Falls Down The Stairs
6.  Derailed By First World Problems
7.  How To Make Sense Of The Bible
8.  Honoring A Service Man On The Airplane
9.  YWAM Offerings
10.  Tropical Storms and Domestic Disputes

Engage:  Do you have a favorite blog post that I’ve written from 2013?  Let us know in the comments.  

I just took a personality test that I remember taking back in 2008… but my results were different this time, but still spot on… 

Shut Up Strengths Finder | Work On Your Weaknesses

I didn’t know you could change so much in 5 years, but this past 5 years has been quite the whirlwind.  

The test is called the Enneagram, and the interesting thing about it is that it doesn’t focus on your strengths.  That’s probably why this isn’t as popular as Myers Briggs or Strengths Finder.  

Take the test and see if you think it’s accurate.  It’s pretty spot on for me, it’s strange to read the results of a test and have it describe you, it almost seems violating.

I like that this test readily focuses on your weaknesses, because we all know they’re there, and it helps bring those things into the light.  
Engage:  What number were you?  Did you think it was accurate?  Let us know in the comments.    

It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it…

This is a phrase that my dad said often while we were growing up.

Recently I was eating breakfast with a friend and he pointed out that I had offended someone by how I spoke to them.  He was quick to say that what I said wasn’t wrong and it needed to be said, but how it was done, was disrespectful.

I honestly felt justified in my use of a harsher tone, because what I was saying seemed so obvious to me, and I was already frustrated.  

But we’re never justified in disrespecting another human, especially as a Christian, dealing with other Christians.  I was wrong.  And I apologized to that person today for my poor and disrespectful way of dealing with that situation. 

As Christians, we’re always called to take the high road.  To treat people with honor and respect.  How you’ve been treated, does not justify you treating others poorly.  We have to remember where we came from.  How we were utterly disrespectful to God, and yet, God in His love pursued us.

If you have to preface your next sentence with “I know I shouldn’t say this” then you shouldn’t say it.  Saying you know you shouldn’t doesn’t justify your actions, in fact it shows that you’re not applying and walking out the wisdom that God has given you.  

Our words and are tone are so powerful.  We can build people up, or we can completely tear them down.  Lets choose our words and tone carefully.  

Here’s 2013’s most popular posts.

Engage:  Did you have a favorite blog post from 2013?  (It doesn’t have to be from this blog)  What was it?  Let us know in the comments.  

Hey everyone, Christmas break is here!  The campus is clearing out, we’ve sent our Fall schools overseas.  And the majority of our staff have returned home for the holidays.  

I’m up on a saturday morning early, about to work on some photo edits and hopefully get our new photography webpage up today.  

My parents come on Tuesday to visit for a few weeks to celebrate Christmas!  

How is your Saturday going?  Ready for the Holidays?  

What’s your neutral?  Can you change your life by simply changing what your normal, natural response is to things?

I know I have certain attitudes towards certain activities, that undermine me from having a realistic experience because I’ve already made up my mind coming into it.  Not a good thing.  

What’s your natural response when someone asks you how you’re doing?  Does that automatic response play a role in how your day will go?  Do an experiment today and change your automatic responses.  See what happens.   

Engage:  What do you think?  Let us know in the comments.