diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 2534345740..b5177621aa 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ PACKAGES=$(shell go list ./... | grep -v '/vendor/')
 COMMIT_HASH := $(shell git rev-parse --short HEAD)
 BUILD_FLAGS = -ldflags "-X github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/version.GitCommit=${COMMIT_HASH}"
 
-all: check_tools get_vendor_deps build test
+all: check_tools get_vendor_deps build build_examples test
 
 ########################################
 ### CI
diff --git a/cmd/gaiad/main.go b/cmd/gaiad/main.go
index d5f2311e46..e44bc73eac 100644
--- a/cmd/gaiad/main.go
+++ b/cmd/gaiad/main.go
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import (
 
 // rootCmd is the entry point for this binary
 var (
-	context = server.NewContext(nil, nil)
+	context = server.NewDefaultContext()
 	rootCmd = &cobra.Command{
 		Use:               "gaiad",
 		Short:             "Gaia Daemon (server)",
diff --git a/examples/basecoin/cmd/basecoind/main.go b/examples/basecoin/cmd/basecoind/main.go
index 3153330086..34e45bf312 100644
--- a/examples/basecoin/cmd/basecoind/main.go
+++ b/examples/basecoin/cmd/basecoind/main.go
@@ -15,9 +15,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/server"
 )
 
-// basecoindCmd is the entry point for this binary
+// rootCmd is the entry point for this binary
 var (
-	context = server.NewContext(nil, nil)
+	context = server.NewDefaultContext()
 	rootCmd = &cobra.Command{
 		Use:               "basecoind",
 		Short:             "Basecoin Daemon (server)",
diff --git a/examples/democoin/cmd/democoind/main.go b/examples/democoin/cmd/democoind/main.go
index 6fc5930678..076eda248b 100644
--- a/examples/democoin/cmd/democoind/main.go
+++ b/examples/democoin/cmd/democoind/main.go
@@ -17,9 +17,9 @@ import (
 	sdk "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types"
 )
 
-// democoindCmd is the entry point for this binary
+// rootCmd is the entry point for this binary
 var (
-	context = server.NewContext(nil, nil)
+	context = server.NewDefaultContext()
 	rootCmd = &cobra.Command{
 		Use:               "democoind",
 		Short:             "Democoin Daemon (server)",
diff --git a/server/util.go b/server/util.go
index a41eb179e0..95dc4b30d3 100644
--- a/server/util.go
+++ b/server/util.go
@@ -19,6 +19,13 @@ type Context struct {
 	Logger log.Logger
 }
 
+func NewDefaultContext() *Context {
+	return NewContext(
+		cfg.DefaultConfig(),
+		log.NewTMLogger(log.NewSyncWriter(os.Stdout)),
+	)
+}
+
 func NewContext(config *cfg.Config, logger log.Logger) *Context {
 	return &Context{config, logger}
 }
@@ -57,6 +64,8 @@ func AddCommands(
 	appState GenAppState, appCreator AppCreator,
 	context *Context) {
 
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().String("log_level", context.Config.LogLevel, "Log level")
+
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(
 		InitCmd(appState, context),
 		StartCmd(appCreator, context),