November 27, 2023 • 50 mins
Imagine experiencing creativity from a spiritual perspective, as a divine gift from God. Join us as we engage with serial entrepreneur, Scott Barlass, who enlightens us about the intrinsic harmony between creativity, entrepreneurship, and Christianity. Together, we journey through the foundations of creativity as a divine endowment, underlining our role as stewards of God's creation. Scott's experience in developing IdeaBase, a software fostering innovative thinking, brings a refreshing perspective to the table.
We grapple with the fear of judgment that often intimidates us from sharing our ideas. As we delve into the role of personality in fostering this fear, we discover the importance of providing everyone the opportunity to express their ideas. The discussion unfolds into the realms of diversity and uniqueness within the Christian community, mirroring the body of Christ, where varied skills and gifts coalesce to create something extraordinary.
Venturing into Christian entrepreneurship, we highlight how it can be harnessed to serve others and build God's kingdom. As we discuss overcoming the fear of failure and the courage to take business risks, Scott shares his inspiring faith journey and the role of consulting in spurring innovation. The conversation culminates in a beautiful prayer for Scott's ministry, leaving us with a sense of inspiration, encouragement, and empowerment. This episode is a treasure chest for Christian entrepreneurs and creatives seeking divine inspiration.
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Episode Transcript
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Scott Barlass (00:04):
The Christian community should be more
entrepreneurial and moreinnovative than the
non-Christian community.
The ideas that are furthest outoften are the ones that are the
most revolutionary.
We're given a job to becreative because in Genesis it
(00:24):
says that we're supposed to ruleand have a domain.
It would basically be stewardsover the creation.
Aaron O'Connell (00:31):
Welcome back to the WHY to Fitness Podcast.
I'm your host, aaron O'Connell,and today I am joined with
Scott Barlass.
How are you doing today, scott?
I'm doing great, thank you.
It's great to be here.
Thank you for being here.
And today we're actually goingto be exploring the spiritual
foundations of creativitybecause, as Christians, we
(00:52):
believe that our Creator hasplaced within us the spark of
His own creativity.
We're going to be exploringwhat the Bible has to say about
this gift and really get intothe nooks and crannies of
creativity, because you'veactually created a software all
about creativity.
You are a serial entrepreneur.
(01:13):
You started with majorcorporations before you turned
entrepreneur when you were 35?
35.
35 years old, and you createdthis software program.
Talk about this creativitysoftware program that you
created and how it came about.
Scott Barlass (01:28):
The program is called IdeaBase and it's a
collaborative problem-solvingsoftware.
Groups of people that areworking on a problem or
opportunity in any kind of anorganization can meet online and
they can use three creativetools that we've baked into the
software program that helpprovoke out-of-the-box thinking.
Ideabase is kind of formedbased on me doing about 200 live
(01:53):
ideation or brainstormingsessions with companies like 3M,
Procter, Gamble, SherwinWilliams, Michelin, companies
like that big companies thatwere my clients and we did
innovation work for them,helping them discover new
products and opportunities andthen helping refine those.
Ideabase kind of does the samething.
Instead of hiring me as afacilitator on site, they can do
(02:16):
that through the IdeaBaseplatform.
Aaron O'Connell (02:18):
Yeah, because a lot of people they complain
that they're not creative.
Scott Barlass (02:23):
Right Wouldn't you say that, yeah, there's an
Adobe study of about 1,500people worldwide and that study
showed that 50% of them saythey're not creative, and I
think one of the reasons forthat is often creativity is
defined in terms of music orsome type of an artistic
expression, and so when peoplethink about creativity, they
(02:44):
think about those things theydon't think about out of the box
thinking as it relates tosolving a problem or an
opportunity.
The other thing, the reasonthat people don't feel creative
sometimes, is they comparethemselves to highly creative
people like Steve Jobs or ElonMusk people like that, and then
they feel like, gee, I don'tmeasure up, so I must not be
(03:04):
creative.
Aaron O'Connell (03:06):
Okay, but right there, we were made in God's
image, correct?
The very first verse of theBible is In the Beginning, God
Created the heavens and theearth, which is that powerful
statement of creating nature.
He's the ultimate Creator andas his children who are made in
his image, it means creativityis an inherent part of us.
Scott Barlass (03:28):
Yeah, it is.
Uh, that's one aspect of beingmade in God's image.
God is obviously the ultimateCreator and he takes great joy
in his creation.
It's interesting when they'vedone deep dives into the depths
of the ocean, they foundcreatures that previously had
never been discovered, and theywere made in the depths of the
ocean.
And that's what we're doinghere today.
(03:48):
We're doing this because Godtook pleasure in having those in
that creativity.
And actually, not only were wecreated in God's image, but
we're given a job to be creative, because in Genesis it says
that we're supposed to rule andhave domain and basically be
stewards over the creation, thecreated world on earth, and
(04:09):
expand it and add value andinvent things, and so we can't
do that without creativity.
Aaron O'Connell (04:14):
And so, when I was working with one of those
creatures of the deep ocean, Ijust saw a video just the other
day, and it was this thing thatlooked like it was lifting up
its skirt just to walk, or towalk the floor.
Depths of the ocean Some crazystuff.
And it was.
It was, it was like changingcolors and it was just like
straight out of your nightmarestype of thing, you know, like
(04:34):
shape shifter type of thing,where, like you said, we we
don't even seen that it's beenover plus 5,000 or close to
5,000 years, however long it is,since God created these things
and we're just starting to seethem.
So it really shows what youwere saying of God taking
pleasure in creativity.
And I know for a fact for me,when I'm feeling creative, when
(04:57):
I create something, I takepleasure in it.
You know, it's great creatingthe program of why Too Fitness,
creating this podcast, because,even though it says it right
there in Ephesians 2,10, that wewere created for God's hand,
we're created for good works.
What are those good works?
Well, they can take a host ofdifferent things.
(05:18):
They can be creativity, allleft and right.
You could go from just being adesigner of pools to being a
designer of software, to beingthe best cook for finding the
most creative ways to be aparent.
Scott Barlass (05:32):
Yeah, absolutely, and what's really great about
the Lord and the Holy Spirit isthat we're all gifted in
different ways.
So we have different passions,different desires, different
skills, and then we havedifferent gifts as well, and so
there's different ways that wecan express that creativity.
And we're all not Michelangelo,we're not all great musicians,
but in our ordinary life we canstill come up with
(05:54):
out-of-the-box solutions.
We come up with different waysof thinking or handling a
problem or opportunity thatmaybe nobody thought of before,
or maybe it's just new to us.
Aaron O'Connell (06:03):
Yeah for sure.
And even within the health andfitness realm, so many people
want to get told what to do,they go back to that same old
I'm going to just do three setsof 10, doing this, I have to
lift weights, I have to docardio, when no one really said
that.
That's just an adaption fromthe bodybuilders, the
(06:24):
Michelangelo's, the Steve Jobsof working out and everyone
wants to emulate them.
But as a mother, as anoverweight man, as a desk jockey
, whatever you are, you weren'tcreated to be like oh, I'm going
to go lift weights and bash mymuscles and do all these things.
It's like no, go get creative,go figure out what you enjoy.
(06:47):
If it's pickleball, go playpickleball.
If it's hiking, go hiking.
If it's going searching shellson the beach, get up and go.
That is your fitness, it's youractivity.
That's more or less what Godwanted us for physical activity.
But it's like a lot of peoplelost that creativity.
Granted, there are some peopleI've seen in the gym.
(07:07):
They get a little too creativeand it makes you wonder and
scratch your head.
But if you go talk to them,they're usually the most
free-spirited people there arewhen they are doing that
creativity, creative workoutsand all that stuff.
So it just really goes to showthat creativity can be applied
in so many different areas thanjust art and in certain areas.
Scott Barlass (07:31):
You know, when I would do seminars on creativity,
the first thing I'll do is I'llask people raise your hand if
you think you're creative, andabout half the people do.
And I'll say raise your hand ifyou feel you're not creative.
And again about half the peopledo.
And I'll ask the people thatraise their hand saying I'm not
creative.
I'll say have you ever had anidea for improving a product
(07:53):
that you enjoy or a sport thatyou enjoy or a hobby you enjoy?
And everybody raises their hand.
Yeah, everybody's had an idea tocreate or to improve something
that they enjoy doing a hobby, aproduct, a passion of theirs,
and so everybody has ideas.
So therefore, everybody'screative.
Some ideas are further out thanother ideas, some are closer in
(08:17):
.
We brought a pickleball beforeand pickleball was created by
some guys in a backyard thatdidn't have a tennis court and
they wanted a paddle game.
So they got a wiffleball andthey started hitting that around
and the ball went rolling offthe court and their dog, pickle,
went and retrieved it andthat's why they call it
pickleball, but it's the fastestrunning sport in the United
(08:38):
States right now.
Aaron O'Connell (08:39):
I know that yeah.
Scott Barlass (08:41):
But it's a couple of guys that just had a
barbecue and decided let's startwhacking a ball around.
Wow.
So, that's creativity, no forsure.
Aaron O'Connell (08:48):
And you know, first Corinthians 1031 says so
whether you eat or drink orwhatever you do, do it for the
glory of God.
And what does that look like,doing it for the glory of God?
I like to imagine when youfirst met your wife, when you
first meet your girlfriend.
You're going above and beyond.
Usually You're going and doingthat next level thing.
(09:09):
You're not just thinking oflet's just go to the movies and
this.
You're like no, I'm going totake her on this route, I'm
going to bring her here, I'mgoing to surprise her with this.
You get creative with that planto kind of showcase that, to
stand out from the crowd.
And if we could take that inall that we do and like we're
celebrating God and all that wecan do, then in everything we're
(09:32):
doing we can find thatcreativity where it's not just
this mundane.
I'm going in and just going tomy job nine to five.
It's like no, if we do it forthe glory of God, that could be
the spark of looking for a wayto do it that much faster, that
much more effective, that muchmore efficient.
And that's how you would standout to an employer.
(09:52):
And you have bringing newsystems, possibilities,
proposals to that upper aboveand that may fast track you to
get you out of that humdrum nineto five and get you to where
you really are feeling a calling.
Yeah, exactly.
Scott Barlass (10:09):
One of the purposes that God has us on
earth is to help build thiskingdom on earth and have his
reign and rule throughout theearth, and so we're ambassadors
for Christ.
So when we're out there we'realmost double agents in the
workforce.
in a sense we're working forourselves we're working for
somebody else, we're working forthe customer, but we're really
(10:30):
working for the Lord and we'reout there to bring his values
and his system against the worldsystem and his creativity, so
we can improve things, makethings better.
And so, as we look at work,work is really a ministry.
Even in the most mundane typesof jobs sweeping a floor for a
living or something like that wecan still be creative.
(10:52):
When I was working for theRubbermaid Company, one of my
product line was garbage cansand industrial garbage cans.
So I was at O'Hare Airport onetime and I was just watching the
janitors how they worked and Isaw that they were taking the
brooms and the mops that theywere using to mop the floor and
they were putting back into themiddle of the garbage can.
(11:13):
And one guy was shaking hishead and I could tell he was
disturbed.
So I went up and I said so whatare you doing in your work
process here?
And he said well, I cleaned thefloor with this and then I have
to.
You know, my mop is supposed tobe clean.
I have to put it back into thegarbage can.
So I said well, what if youdidn't have to do that?
How would that work?
And he goes it would be greatif I could have an attachment on
(11:36):
the side of the garbage can soI wouldn't have to put my mop
inside the garbage can.
And so I took that back toRubbermaid and we made a caddy
that wrapped around the brutegarbage cans.
And that was years and yearsago and it's about a $10, $15
million business for Rubbermaidstill.
But it was because somebodythat had a mundane job
(11:58):
recognized that they didn't likethe way they had to do that
work and they had an idea formodifying the product.
I didn't have that idea.
They did.
So that's creativity.
Aaron O'Connell (12:07):
Yeah, it really is like.
An attitude is what it almostsounds like, because you either
are stuck in somethingcomplaining, or you're in
something looking foropportunity.
Scott Barlass (12:18):
Right, exactly, and I think it's a good point.
When we think about creativity,we think about problems and we
think about opportunities, andso problems are something that
have to be solved.
It's a distress or something.
Opportunities are something tobe gained and there's something
mentally when we approach aproblem or opportunity, to
define it correctly.
(12:39):
So we want to, if we want totalk about an opportunity, that
kind of energizes us becauseit's a chance for gaining
something and growing when wethink about a problem, it
energizes us in a different waybecause it's taking away a pain
point.
So our first step in looking atproblems or opportunities is
(12:59):
asking a question how can we orhow might we take advantage of
this opportunity or solve thisproblem?
And right away when you askthat question, you start
thinking of ideas.
You can't help it.
Aaron O'Connell (13:12):
Yeah, for sure, and going along that lines of
thinking of ideas, I'm actuallyin a small group with you for
business entrepreneurs and thelast session, just lo and behold
, was the creativity session,right, and you were talking
about.
It was an exercise that we didabout how to make bath time for
kids better, like, right, yep,because everyone is always has
(13:37):
an experience with taking a bath, whether it's themselves or
putting their kids into the bath.
And you stated something thatyou can't judge, no matter how
outlandish the idea is, becauseI think a lot of people stray
away from creativity.
A lot of people don't wannaspeak up with their ideas in
(13:58):
fear of judgment, you know,especially from whether it be
the peers, or they just don'twanna feel foolish, or oh,
that's impossible, go sit down,you know, would you say, that
might be a fear that people mayhave.
Scott Barlass (14:11):
Yeah, and I think it depends on personality.
When people that are a littlebit more extroverted, maybe, you
know, they will have less fearof being judged, usually for
their ideas, because they'reused to just throwing things out
.
People that tend to be a littlebit more analytic and they
really wanna think thingsthrough before they state
something, or maybe they're alittle bit more introverted.
(14:32):
They tend to not be able toexpress their ideas as quickly,
and that's one of the things ina brainstorming session or a
live idea generation session isto make sure that you get a
balance of people who areextroverted and the people that
are more introverted oranalytical, but then give them
time to express their ideas,because the people that are
(14:56):
really extroverted are gonna runaway with it and they'll be
three miles downstream and then,finally, the person that's
analytic and has really thoughtthis thing through will speak up
.
And so I think there's apersonality component in terms
of concern of being judged andmaking sure your idea is stated
as the right one, and I thinkone of the classic examples of
(15:19):
that is one of the most powerfultools for creative thinking or
out-of-the-box thinking is thewhat If?
tool, and so if you gave me alist of what Ifs and I put
together a list of what Ifs fora kid-friendly bathtub, they'd
be different.
And so I'd look at your listand it would make me think
totally differently, probably.
But what If?
Statements are basically meantto put reality on hold for a
(15:42):
moment and say, look, I'm justspeculating here, and so it's
easy to judge a what If and jumpin and say, well, that's
ridiculous.
So I could say, well, what Ifbathtubs could talk?
What?
Aaron O'Connell (15:53):
would they?
Scott Barlass (15:53):
say, and you might say, well, they'd play
tunes from the radio.
So that could be judged reallyquickly.
Or we could say, oh, okay,we'll build a speaker on the
side of the tub, control with asmartphone, so we may come up
with a great idea from kind of acrazy what If?
What If bathtubs could talk?
Yeah.
Aaron O'Connell (16:12):
Yeah, it's funny because I think I was that
extroverted person during theexercise, because the first
thing I said was what if it'snot even a tub?
What if it's like a conveyorbelt, where you just set the kid
in and then it does it all foryou?
And then they end up dressed atthe very end and everyone's
just kind of looking at me likeokay, and not many people had
(16:33):
many ideas.
And then the next thing I waslike what if there's a wave pool
in there that actually has likerip currents, where they could
like surf on it with theirBarbies and their kids and it
would be sealed in it?
And then I started saying weirdstuff Like what if you could
put like different dot pushbuttons with dies and they mixed
to different colors, you know?
And then that, actually fromsomebody else's idea, then
turned into different LED lightsthroughout the whole thing
(16:55):
where the kid can be mixingcolors and the water turns that
color.
Then I started saying like whatif it could get cold or hot
instantly and then it's sealedoff with the speaker in there
and then it could be story time.
So if they're going through itthey were going through the
desert and all of a sudden itgets warm.
And then the next thing, youknow it, they saw a mirage and
(17:17):
it was this cool wave coming.
And the wave comes and it getsa little cold and there's all
different sounds in it and atthe end of it we're like did we
just create a Walt Disney Worldride?
Scott Barlass (17:30):
And sometimes the ideas that are.
You know, the ideas are thewhat ifs that are the furthest
out end up having the mostpotential.
You know, when phones wereinvented, they hooked into a
wall and somebody said, well,what if I could carry my phone
around?
Yeah, well, ok, we'll make alonger cord.
Well, what if I can carry myphone in the car?
Ok, we'll put an antenna in thecar, we'll give you a car phone
(17:52):
.
You know, and then phonesdidn't have cameras.
So what if we could takepictures with this thing?
No, for sure what if we couldhave a camera in the front, one
in the back.
So the ideas that are furthestout often are the ones that are
the most revolutionary Wow, interms of hitting the market.
Aaron O'Connell (18:10):
No for sure, and I love that that you were
saying with differentpersonalities, because it makes
me think back of Exodus 31.3.
When God instructed Moses tobuild that tabernacle, he filled
the craftsman with his spiritto be able to do all the
different skills and tasks.
That's why we're the body ofChrist, why it's so important to
(18:31):
be amongst people me be able tohang out with you, but hanging
out with that person and beingamongst the body, being a part
of the church, because, as goodas someone can be, steve Jobs
was amazing, but without thepeople around him, nothing
probably would have happened.
He may have had all the ideas,but he didn't have the technical
work to make this and to bringthat in there.
(18:52):
He probably he may not have thebusiness to be able to mass,
produce it and put it alltogether.
And that's what I really loveabout having a good church body
around you, having groups likeour group, because we all are
filled with the Holy Spirit indifferent ways.
We have the different gifts andwe can express those in
different ways.
Scott Barlass (19:13):
And really, if you think about it, the
Christian community should bemore entrepreneurial and more
innovative than thenon-Christian community, because
we do have the Holy Spirit, wedo have the gifts of the Holy
Spirit, we have a mandate fromGod to go out, rule, domain,
steward the creation and make itbetter, bring God's kingdom to
(19:34):
earth.
But we also have an admonitionin the Bible to encourage each
other, exhort each other, buildeach other up.
And so part of being innovativeis taking that risk and saying,
oh, this is a crazy.
What if?
In the Christian body, weshould be encouraging each other
and going, instead of saying,well, that'll never work, or boy
(19:55):
, that's a stupid idea, where wetried that before, or we don't
have the technology, it would belike, oh, that's interesting,
tell me more about it, andthat's more encouraging.
That opens up the flow ofcreative thinking, and that what
if?
Might not be the solution, butit may lead to another what if?
Or it might lead to an idea,just kind of like stepping
stones, so you never want to getrid of the first stepping stone
(20:17):
.
Aaron O'Connell (20:17):
Wow, yeah, with what you said, we should be
more creative, more entrepreneur.
From your observation throughthe years that you've been doing
this, have you seen that to bethe case?
Scott Barlass (20:30):
I think I haven't seen Christians in general be
more entrepreneurial thannon-Christians.
I haven't really seen that.
I've seen some Christianorganizations be very
entrepreneurial and creative.
I've seen some churches supportbusiness formation within the
body of Christ, the local bodyof Christ.
(20:50):
I think there's a hugeopportunity for us there.
Aaron O'Connell (20:53):
If we think about.
Scott Barlass (20:55):
there's a certain amount of wealth out in the
world and wealth can grow, buthow much of that is controlled
by God's kingdom or part ofGod's kingdom, versus the world
system?
So if we can have moreChristians developing businesses
, more entrepreneurs out therebuilding businesses and they're
tithing they're honoring Godwith their tithe we can bring
(21:17):
more money into the kingdom.
We can do more good in theworld.
We can bring more value topeople's lives.
Aaron O'Connell (21:24):
For sure.
Scott Barlass (21:25):
So, to me, christian entrepreneurship is
really an opportunity that weneed to explore.
We need to expand, we need togrow.
Aaron O'Connell (21:34):
I agree and I love that paradigm that you took
is that we should be havingthat creativity to bring God's
kingdom here on to earth.
It's our great commission to goand affect this world for the
positive, which means creatingthings.
But, like you said, you kind ofsee more entrepreneurship, more
creativity from almostnon-Christians.
(21:54):
I'm wondering maybe that'sbecause when people aren't
Christians they don't have anymeaning to their life.
They're doing things almost outof fear of I may not be worth
anything.
What is going to be my legacy?
How am I going to stand out?
What about me?
What about me?
That's driving them, and out ofthat fear-based, where
(22:15):
Christians, we find God and it'slike a lot of them may not get
to their potential, that truepotential of getting to that
creativity, because it's more ofwhat's God doing for me.
He keeps me comforted, he getsall that.
It's all about that.
But not into that final step ofwhat can I do for God when that
realization of your Christianwalk of like I'm good, what can
(22:38):
I do for God?
Because when I did that, when Ifinally got to the point after
questioning my life, it actuallyhappened in your class Because
I was like, why can't I do?
Why can't I start this podcast,why don't I do the things that
I say I want to do?
And God met me after one ofthese classes and he said that
last thing that you need to dieto, where you say, when I move
(22:58):
my finger, the waters part.
I've been very blessed, I'vebeen very favored from God my
whole life.
I've gotten out of so muchtrouble that I shouldn't have
all that and I've almost usedthat as an identity and it was
keeping me procrastinating, notdoing things, not loving people
the way that I want, not workingas hard as I should.
Because I realized if I startworking hard and even if I get
(23:23):
the reward, but if I don't getthe reward, I can't say that
anymore.
I can't say I work so littleand have so much.
And that was the last piecethat I had to die to.
And then, all of a sudden, boom, the next day I recorded my
podcast.
And when you finally die toyour last bit of self and say
it's no longer about me or anyidentities that I have, it's all
(23:44):
about you, that's when Ibelieve the creativity and God's
spark and his ability to workthrough you just manifests.
Scott Barlass (23:54):
I agree with that .
Christ said we're supposed todeny ourselves pick up our trust
daily, and that means who's onthe throne of our life every day
.
Are we going to be our own godsevery day, or are we going to
live in the true vine, which isJesus, where the true life is?
And it's interesting our pastor, pastor Scott Baw, had a series
(24:14):
called Made for More.
The first sermon in that serieswas you're here on earth to
have a loving relationship withGod, and so that's the primary
thing.
If you have that lovingrelationship, it's not about
legalism anymore, it's not aboutreligiosity or churchianity, or
it's not about having to proveourselves in the business world
(24:36):
that we're worthy.
We have that acceptance fromGod.
Number two is to be transformedand be more like Jesus, to
serve others, to bring value toothers, to be honest and ethical
.
And once we have those things,then the third sermon was we're
here to build God's kingdom.
So we have that relationshipwith God, we're transformed
excuse me to be more like Jesus,and that really empowers us to
(24:59):
get out there in the world, setourselves aside and do what you
did, take that risk, put thatfear aside.
Aaron O'Connell (25:07):
Yeah, I love that and, like you said, we
always say end every time, don'tconform, but be transformed.
And that's Romans 12-2,.
Do not copy or conform to thepatterns of this world.
Or copy the patterns of thisworld.
Instead, be renewed by, or betransformed by, the renewing of
your mind.
And with that I feel like a lotof Christians will tend to
(25:30):
conform to this world.
That their push, their businesspush, their entrepreneur push,
does come out of that fear ofnot having enough, maybe not
doing enough, to get kind oflegalistic with things of like
am I not doing enough?
But if we could instead stopthat and be transformed by the
renewing of our mind and justhave that paradigm shift of what
(25:50):
can I do for God?
What can you know?
Not so much.
What do I need to do?
What do I get to do?
Right?
And if we could just do alittle bit of change that right
there will then maybe have Godstep in and give us those ideas.
Because if we're trying to do itall on our own and we're trying
to do it all on our own mightby copying patterns of this
(26:12):
world, but we are trulyChristians God might keep that
block there right in front ofyou.
Because if you do go get thatsuccess, you're going to think
it's all about you.
It could be a downward spiral.
It could be something thatcould lead into losing your
family because it sucked you in.
You can be.
If he cannot, you have thatblock and then you finally trust
(26:32):
him, give it all to him.
Don't do it your way, a patternin this world, but a way of I
get to do this for God.
He may remove that block andthen boom, here comes success,
and you're not going to thenslip into negatives or lose
anything, but instead get closerto him.
Scott Barlass (26:49):
Yeah, I agree with that, and I think part of
that has to do with contentment,where contentment comes from.
So if we can be content in theknowledge that God adopted us
into his family and it gave himgreat pleasure to do that, and
that he'll provide all of ourneeds and that we have heavenly
treasures and rewards as welland our life in the flesh is
(27:10):
really short, it's a drop in theocean and so if we have that
eternal perspective and we trustin God and we're here to serve
him he's on the throne of ourlife then if he gives us passion
to pursue something and we'veprayed about it, we've sought
wise counsel and it looks like,yeah, take that risk, go ahead
and do that.
Even if it doesn't work out forsome reason, we can still be
(27:31):
content because we have the mostvaluable thing that there is.
We have that relationship withGod that's eternal.
So I think that brings freedomin terms of being able to
explore new opportunities, takerisks, think out of the box,
because we don't have that fearof failure anymore.
That fear of failure can goaway.
Aaron O'Connell (27:51):
Yeah for sure.
And you know, john 15.5 says Iam the vine, you are the
branches.
If you remain in me and I andyou, you will bear much fruit,
because apart from me you can donothing.
And if you are doing thingsapart from him, it could be so
successful, worldly terms, money, cars, possessions, all that
(28:13):
that still is nothing, andthat's the best case scenario is
nothing, and best case scenariousually doesn't happen.
Usually it's a lot worse thanbest case scenario.
So you're not just going to bedoing nothing, you are going to
be reaping death, like you know,in turmoil and trouble.
That's why it's just soimportant to not lean on that
(28:35):
old understanding but in allyour ways acknowledge Christ and
he's going to show you whichpath to take.
Like people don't understandthat, which is like for me, I
maybe have planned out a couplepodcasts, but I had no idea
you'd be sitting here.
I had no idea of a multiplepeople that I've been able to
already interview.
But that's because God'sshowing me that path.
It wasn't me.
(28:56):
I didn't lean on that oldunderstanding.
If I was leaning on myunderstanding, I don't even
think we'd be here today,because there was already some
kind of music in the backgroundalready.
You got people coming in and outright now, you know, but it's
like you know what?
No, I'm going to give this toGod.
I won't lean on it, whatever hewill then show me the path to
take.
And it just when you lean onGod, it just everything explodes
(29:18):
, right.
Scott Barlass (29:19):
Yeah, it does, and I think that one of the
things that we want to do ishere at Journey is we want to
really stimulate people they'reChristians to create new
businesses, be entrepreneurs, becreative in their business
roles.
Even if they're middlemanagement, you know level and
they're managing people, theycan still have a lot of
creativity and prove thosebusinesses.
(29:40):
So one of the things is how doyou help Christians that don't
know how to start a business?
How do you help them do that?
And there's tons of secularorganizations that do that.
They have incubators andaccelerators and things like
that, but from a Christianstandpoint it's very, very
limited.
So you know, my vision is tohave an entrepreneurial boot
(30:03):
camp that's faith-based.
So we lay the foundation of whydo you want to have this
business?
And in fact, when you get thisbusiness, you don't own the
business.
God owns the business becausehe owns everything, and Proverbs
says that God gives us theabilities to create wealth.
So even our ability to be ableto create wealth at some point
doesn't come from us, eventhat's God's and then be able to
(30:26):
take these baby businessesthrough an incubator process and
have wise Christian mentors whohave business experience and
mature spiritually and helpguide them in developing those
entrepreneurial ventures.
And so it's wrapped theentrepreneurial vision is
wrapped in the faith, and it'sfor God, and it's by.
(30:47):
God.
So that's the vision.
Aaron O'Connell (30:49):
Oh, that's a great vision that reminds me of
1 Peter, 4, 10.
Each of you should use whatevergift you have received to serve
others as faithful stewards ofGod's grace in its various forms
.
And you're doing that rightthere.
You're not.
You're not just keeping yourcreativity in, you're using it
for the benefit of others.
And that's the true ex like theexpression of faith.
(31:12):
Because, again, even Jesus saidwhat is love?
What?
How do you?
What is real, genuine love?
What's real religion?
Serving widows and needy peopleand the poor, you know, and
children, and when it's not justwidows, it's not just the needy
or the homeless, it's thepeople that are in need.
We are to serve each other,we're supposed to lift each
(31:33):
other up, and I just love that.
That's your vision.
It's amazing.
Scott Barlass (31:37):
And that's what I love about Christian
entrepreneurship, because, again, if we can take more money out
of the worldly system intoChrist's kingdom, then there's
more money to help the oppressed, help the people that are
pushed down in life, the peoplethat Jesus had so much
compassion for, the humbled inthis life, and we have an
opportunity to really bless morepeople, bring more people into
(32:00):
the kingdom, help people getfree from their addictions from
maybe the past when they've beenabused, things that are really
troubling their minds.
So for me, Christianentrepreneurship isn't just
about helping the entrepreneurbecome wealthy which they may,
and that's great if God blessesthem that way but it's really
about bringing money into thekingdom so God's purposes can be
(32:22):
fulfilled on earth to an evenlarger degree.
So that's kind of what it's allabout for me.
Aaron O'Connell (32:27):
I love that and I want to just actually shift
gears just a little bit and askyou a more personal question,
which is how long have you beenwalking with the Lord?
Scott Barlass (32:37):
So I grew up Viking, which means I went to
Viking football games instead ofchurch and the times that we
would go to church.
It was a Lutheran church andthey basically read the prayers
and at that age, as a teenager,it was kind of boring, but I
didn't really feel a presence ofGod there.
When I did go to church, andthat was only a couple of times
(32:59):
a year.
And then I was on the varsityfootball team as a junior in
high school.
In the first practice I wasabout 140 pound, running back,
ran into the line on a dive playand a guy named John Lewis,
who's six, six 250 pounds inhigh school, picked me up by the
shoulder pads and he saidyou're coming to the prayer
(33:19):
meeting after the game.
Aaron O'Connell (33:22):
So I'm like okay.
Scott Barlass (33:23):
I'm going to the prayer meeting.
So I went in there and thereare probably 10 or 12 of the
football players and some of thecheerleaders and they started
praying.
But it struck me because theywere talking to God like he was
actually real.
It wasn't a written prayer, itwas coming from their heart.
And some of them had these bigfootball players you know, just
(33:44):
had emotion.
You could tell that they hadsomething I didn't have.
So I went to a couple more ofthose.
And then there was a retreatthrough an organization called
Young Life.
And so when on the retreat itwas a camp way up in northern
Minnesota and it was for all thefootball players in that in
that district and thecheerleaders, and I thought, oh,
(34:05):
this would be a cool way tomeet some girls.
And little did.
I know I met Jesus.
That's awesome.
And yeah, they did a skit wherethey had a Roman centurion
nailing big spikes into a cross,huge cross, and there were
probably 400 kids there,football players and
cheerleaders in a circle aroundus and most of them were weeping
and I thought they knowsomething that I don't know.
(34:28):
They have a relationship withGod.
That.
I don't have and I wanted it.
I wanted it.
So they gave the gospel messageand they said go out alone into
the woods for an hour and talkto God.
And so it was in October and Iaccepted Jesus then.
And what's interesting is whenI got back on Monday, my best
(34:52):
friend told another friend wecan't hang out with Scott
anymore because he's not thesame person.
He's radically changed.
Aaron O'Connell (35:00):
Really yeah, wow.
Scott Barlass (35:02):
And so, yeah, that's how it happened for me.
Aaron O'Connell (35:05):
That's a great testimony.
Thank you for sharing that.
Did you then?
Did you remain relatively onfire or did you drift away at
any point after that?
Scott Barlass (35:15):
Yeah, I did for a few years and then got married
young, at 19.
And then ended up having somekids.
And then I don't know what itwas.
I don't know if I wanted tomodel my dad.
My dad was a very successfulentrepreneur and so I just had
this goal all of a sudden of Iwant to make X amount of money
(35:36):
by this age, and so I threwmyself into corporate life.
I went to work for ProcterGamble and brand management just
kind of like a PhD in marketingthis after my master's degree
and worked there for you foryears.
I worked on Tide and Joy brands.
Then I went to Robbermaid andwas there for a few years and
started a business for them asan entrepreneur in the
(35:58):
agricultural market.
So I had industrial design,engineering, marketing, sales
working for me.
And then I moved to the Torocompany Lawn Mowers and
Snowblowers and ended up runningall of the functions for the
consumer business, which wasabout a $600 million business at
that time.
I had everything except formanufacturing and so I was
(36:19):
climbing the corporate ladder.
So I was a vice president levelby the time I was 28.
Oh, wow, and big companies.
And so at the age of 35, I hadalways in my master's program I
always wanted to be a consultant.
I had done consulting during myprogram for a couple of
Metronik was one and GouldBattery Company was another so I
(36:40):
got a taste for consulting.
I really liked the idea Veryeclectic, I like learning, and
so that was always on my radarscreen.
And so, after spending thoseyears in corporate life, at 35,
I started a business with abusiness partner and our
business was focused oninnovation and creativity.
So we basically became theintermediaries between, maybe,
(37:02):
the technical people in acompany like 3M and the
marketing people, and so we'dhelp them discover what customer
needs were, unmet needs, whatthe pain points were, and then
we'd do brainstorming sessionsand help them come up with ideas
to solve those needs.
Then we'd help test thoseconcepts with customers and then
once they would say, hey, okay,we're going to develop, like
(37:23):
Sherwin Williams, we're going todevelop this paint, and then we
would step out.
We weren't part of thedevelopment process.
So we're kind of the upfront,creative thinking stimulus kind
of organization.
So ran that business for manyyears and then retired at 47 and
moved down to the Caribbean andthen was creative in different
(37:43):
ways and become a certifiedunderwater videographer and
photographer and doing otherthings like that.
Wow, yeah, wow.
Aaron O'Connell (37:52):
And during that time, when would you say that?
When would you say your faithreally started building back up?
Because clearly you were busyduring a lot of that?
When did you really startmaking the?
Because it had to be hard.
If anyone that's climbing thecorporate ladder to you know
there's such a concern of makingit through working hard, doing
(38:15):
it all by your own self andinstead letting God guide it,
when would you say you reallyended up giving your life
totally for God within thatprocess?
Scott Barlass (38:25):
Yeah, so I never, I never lost my faith.
Yeah, I always believed inJesus, I always considered
myself to be a child of God,okay, and you know, went to
church and things like that.
But you know again, my pursuit,my treasure was, and where my
heart was was on material gainand buying houses and sports
(38:45):
cars and those types of things.
So so I sacrificed some of myfamily.
I mean I traveled 60% of thetime so kids were growing up,
you know, without me around alot and you know, thankfully,
you know I've got greatrelationship with all my kids
Now.
Aaron O'Connell (39:00):
You know that's a blessing from the Lord.
Scott Barlass (39:02):
So I think what really hit me was when I had
acquired wealth, we moved on tothe islands, retired there.
We had a few homes on theisland, had all the toys we
wanted.
It just felt like empty.
There just was somethingmissing, right?
So all of those treasuresdidn't really bring me
contentment or joy.
(39:23):
So I climbed a mountain and Ifound out it was the wrong one.
Aaron O'Connell (39:27):
Yep.
Scott Barlass (39:28):
And and so, you know, through that process of
just trying to find contentment,you know, I came back to Christ
, and then in a more faithfulway, and then my wife had a
serious health event, Almostdied.
She was 15 minutes away fromdying.
Wow.
Thankfully we're back visitingMinnesota, where we grew up, and
(39:49):
she was able to get the medicalcare she needed.
So that was a big shocker.
So that you know, that was, youknow, a point where we're like,
okay, this is serious, thiscould end, you know, pretty
quickly here and and so we endedup moving back, you know, from
the islands, getting involvedwith the church and then moving
(40:10):
down here.
We got involved with the churchand actually going through the
freedom program that we havehere at Journey.
My, my question was how can Iserve God with the years that I
have remaining, for, with everyminute I have left in my breath?
Because I was down herementoring through FAU.
I was mentoring veteransthrough the Veteran
(40:31):
Entrepreneurship Program.
I'm on the board of directorsfor Tech Runway, which is a of
incubator.
We have five board members and110 mentors and we put 40
businesses a year.
That's awesome, it was great,but it was still.
You know, am I really servingGod in those roles, yeah, and so
going through freedom, I'dreally got a vision, for I want
(40:54):
to spend all the time that Ihave left in my life helping
Christians who are in businesstake their faith from Sunday and
bring it into their business,whether they're a mid-level
manager or whether they're anentrepreneur.
How can they really make theirbusiness a ministry and their
leadership in a business aministry?
(41:14):
So that's that's.
My whole vision is trying toequip and encourage business
people to do that.
Aaron O'Connell (41:21):
Yeah, I love that because you said you
climbed the mountain and yourealized it was the wrong one.
Yeah, and the analogy I use isyou climb up the ladder
realizing it was against thewrong building.
Exactly Because I always givethat example of you don't want
to go and run off and say I'mstarting this business, I'm
doing all this stuff to takecare of my family, and then, in
(41:41):
the whole gist of it, you neverspend any time with your family.
You finally make all this moneyand they don't want anything to
do with you.
Right, it's like, okay, who wasit really for?
And within fitness, that's why Ido what I do with.
Why, to fitness, with where Ibreak help Christians experience
inner peace over their physicalhealth and their appearance,
because you, you this in withinthis group.
(42:04):
You got it said best it was.
We're in the business ofobedience.
God is in the business ofresults and when we look at it
that way, so many people in thehealth and fitness industry are
trying to achieve this amazinggoal and every and throughout
the whole thing, everyone's highfiving them working out,
dieting, doing all these things,and they're they're a lot of
(42:25):
them are miserable doing it.
They're giving up social,social gatherings.
They're, they're, they'reirritable, they're.
You know, their emotions arebuilt up and whether they do or
whether they don't, whether theywork out or they don't, whether
they eat something specific ornot, and they will surround
their whole lives on it.
And not that many people do getto their goals, but most people
(42:48):
that get to their goals I wasone of them they realize how
empty it is and they're just ascrazy they're, just as they're
picking themselves apart morethey're, more insecure they're,
they're, they're going well.
I used to have this much fatand now all of a sudden, they're
grabbing a very little bit, butbecause they ate a bagel
yesterday, they're like, oh,don't, look at me.
(43:09):
It almost like it's worse,because now they're feeling
crazy about it.
And that's why I stoppedpersonal training, because I
wanted to truly help people.
And, just like you said, youwere, you've climbed that,
you've helped, you were helpingpeople.
You had, you're on the board ofdirectors, you're still helping
them.
But within that there wasn'tthis Jesus can do apart.
(43:31):
And it said, like we alreadyheard that the verse apart from
me, you can do nothing, you knownothing when Jesus isn't in it.
There's nothing there, andthat's one big thing that I want
to just stress to everyonethat's been listening is through
entrepreneurship, throughfitness and anything of this
world, it is not going tofulfill you.
(43:53):
Only Christ can, and when wecan, take that paradigm still do
all the same things.
You're doing the same thingsincubator for FAU, you're doing
groups here in in two campusesand you're helping as many
people as you can within church,but all it is is taking the
focus off self and putting itback onto Christ.
(44:13):
Exactly, Yep, I love that andjust to close up, I was.
I was wondering if you have anyadvice to the listeners,
whether that's how to be morecreative or just anything that
you would want to depart withour listeners for them to really
take home.
Scott Barlass (44:28):
I think there's two things.
Number one is what you weretalking about where does content
come from?
And it's not through having acertain physical appearance,
it's not through possessions,money, those things.
Those things fade away.
And Jesus said you knowwherever your treasure is,
that's where your heart's goingto be.
And he also said you know, mypeace I give to you, not as the
(44:48):
world gives peace.
Aaron O'Connell (44:50):
And so John 14, 27.
Scott Barlass (44:51):
Yeah so if we want that peace, we have to be
connected to Jesus.
He can't give us that peace ifwe're trying to do things on our
own.
We have to live for Him andwithin Him to have that kind of
peace.
There's so many people that arejust ripped with anxiety these
days and they'll say well, howmuch time have you spent with
Jesus this week?
Well, I haven't read my Bibleat all, I haven't prayed at all.
(45:14):
Unless you tap into the sourceof peace, you're not going to
have that peace.
From a creativity standpoint, Ithink the goal again, as you
stated really well, is we'rehere to serve God and so when
we're working, we're trying tobe creative in our jobs or even
our family life.
How do we manage kids?
How do we do these things?
It really it's like God, I wantto serve you.
(45:37):
So give me some ideas of how todo this.
Give me wisdom.
The other part is is seekingwisdom from other people,
seeking wise counsel.
So even in the Proverbs is fullof that.
So it's.
It's not just I can come upwith ideas on my own.
There's real power in lookingat a problem or opportunity from
different perspectives, butalso getting the perspectives of
(45:58):
different people and tappinginto their wisdom, because,
ultimately, creative solutionsare combination of knowledge and
we can't have all the knowledgewithin ourselves.
So I think reaching out toother people, getting their
perspectives, was key.
And then there's basicallythree tools that we've
integrated into idea base andthat I like to use when I'm
(46:19):
trying to help somebody thinkcreatively.
And one is we talked about asthe what?
Aaron O'Connell (46:22):
if question.
Scott Barlass (46:24):
And that's just.
Let's put reality on hold andjust think way out of the box,
and it may be casting outfurther than we can ever reach,
but it might be a stepping stoneto something else that actually
reminds me of Google.
Aaron O'Connell (46:35):
They had the moonshots, right, you know they
were.
They literally got like bonusesIf they realized it failed,
right, they would just takemoonshots of all these things,
you go and they would get allthe resources they could.
And when you were admitted thatyou say, okay, this is
impossible and you failed, theyactually celebrated that and it
(46:58):
just and that's the top of thetop people at Google doing that
so they tried.
Because they tried and amongstthat they then not only realized
what can't be done, butthroughout that process they
realized wow, there is actually.
We may have aimed for the moon,but we got.
Now we got satellites fromSpaceX floating all around with
(47:18):
internet to everybody.
You know there's things thatwill happen when you go really
far out in the middle, but sorry, I caught you off, and that's
what.
If is what.
Scott Barlass (47:27):
IF is like a mental moonshot, and so the
other tool that really workswell is analogies.
So if we wanted to makebathtubs more fun for kids, we'd
say find analogies, what's funfor kids Slime fountains,
aquariums, music bubbles, carwash, whatever it is.
You list out those analogiesand all of a sudden it's gonna
(47:49):
lead you to ideas.
The other tool that's reallyeffective is principles of how
or why things work that mightapply to your problem or
opportunity.
So if you're in a nonprofit,you might you know it used to be
Google, not maybe you're gonnause chat, gpt or something.
You're gonna say, okay, give meprinciples of effective
fundraising and you're gonna get50 principles back.
(48:11):
Now, when you see thoseprinciples, you can apply those
to your situation and say, okay,that gives me ideas.
So, for example, if we wanted tomake bathtubs safer for kids, a
principle of safety is amonitored system is more safe.
So you could think of a lot ofways to monitor a bathtub.
You could physically havecameras there.
If your kids are playing, youcould see them on the smartphone
(48:32):
.
Or maybe you have a high wateralarm that's built in there.
So if the kids kind of go under, the water level rises and
alarm goes off.
So principles, analogies andwhat ifs are really powerful
tools for creative out of thebox thinking.
Aaron O'Connell (48:49):
Oh, I love that .
Thank you so much for all yourknowledge that you're just
bringing to this and if youwouldn't mind if I close the
cell for prayer, absolutely Allright, dear heavenly father.
Just thank you so much for thetechnology of podcasts to be
able to spread this messagethroughout to anyone that is
willing to listen.
I pray that those that aretuning in or have ears to hear,
(49:09):
lord, that they become morecreative, that they start
looking at this world in a wayof how they can serve you, not
how they can serve themselves,how they can channel your Holy
Spirit of creativity, lord, intotheir own businesses, into
their own walks and daily lives,so they can enjoy it more, so
they can be just experiencinglife with you, because you are
(49:32):
the God of joy, god of peace,the God of comfort, lord, and
when we do life with you, it'sjust so much better.
So, lord, anyone that'slistening, that's what I pray
over them, and I also just wannajust pray for Scott and just
his ministry that he's doing.
I pray that he's able to startup all the things that he wants
to start up, that there's a massfollowing for it, that it just
(49:53):
goes out to all the places thatyou want it to so he can
positively affect this world foryour kingdom.
So when he does come up to youhe hears those words well done,
my faithful servant, and hasmajor treasure in there, because
he stopped storing up thetreasure here on earth and
instead started storing it upfor you.
(50:14):
Lord, bless him, bless hisfamily, bless his health, and in
Jesus' powerful name I pray.
Scott Barlass (50:20):
Amen.
Well, thank you so much, scott.
Yeah, my pleasure have a goodone, that's great, thank you.
The Christian community should be more
entrepreneurial and moreinnovative than the
non-Christian community.
The ideas that are furthest outoften are the ones that are the
most revolutionary.
We're given a job to becreative because in Genesis it
(00:24):
says that we're supposed to ruleand have a domain.
It would basically be stewardsover the creation.
Aaron O'Connell (00:31):
Welcome back to the WHY to Fitness Podcast.
I'm your host, aaron O'Connell,and today I am joined with
Scott Barlass.
How are you doing today, scott?
I'm doing great, thank you.
It's great to be here.
Thank you for being here.
And today we're actually goingto be exploring the spiritual
foundations of creativitybecause, as Christians, we
(00:52):
believe that our Creator hasplaced within us the spark of
His own creativity.
We're going to be exploringwhat the Bible has to say about
this gift and really get intothe nooks and crannies of
creativity, because you'veactually created a software all
about creativity.
You are a serial entrepreneur.
(01:13):
You started with majorcorporations before you turned
entrepreneur when you were 35?
35.
35 years old, and you createdthis software program.
Talk about this creativitysoftware program that you
created and how it came about.
Scott Barlass (01:28):
The program is called IdeaBase and it's a
collaborative problem-solvingsoftware.
Groups of people that areworking on a problem or
opportunity in any kind of anorganization can meet online and
they can use three creativetools that we've baked into the
software program that helpprovoke out-of-the-box thinking.
Ideabase is kind of formedbased on me doing about 200 live
(01:53):
ideation or brainstormingsessions with companies like 3M,
Procter, Gamble, SherwinWilliams, Michelin, companies
like that big companies thatwere my clients and we did
innovation work for them,helping them discover new
products and opportunities andthen helping refine those.
Ideabase kind of does the samething.
Instead of hiring me as afacilitator on site, they can do
(02:16):
that through the IdeaBaseplatform.
Aaron O'Connell (02:18):
Yeah, because a lot of people they complain
that they're not creative.
Scott Barlass (02:23):
Right Wouldn't you say that, yeah, there's an
Adobe study of about 1,500people worldwide and that study
showed that 50% of them saythey're not creative, and I
think one of the reasons forthat is often creativity is
defined in terms of music orsome type of an artistic
expression, and so when peoplethink about creativity, they
(02:44):
think about those things theydon't think about out of the box
thinking as it relates tosolving a problem or an
opportunity.
The other thing, the reasonthat people don't feel creative
sometimes, is they comparethemselves to highly creative
people like Steve Jobs or ElonMusk people like that, and then
they feel like, gee, I don'tmeasure up, so I must not be
(03:04):
creative.
Aaron O'Connell (03:06):
Okay, but right there, we were made in God's
image, correct?
The very first verse of theBible is In the Beginning, God
Created the heavens and theearth, which is that powerful
statement of creating nature.
He's the ultimate Creator andas his children who are made in
his image, it means creativityis an inherent part of us.
Scott Barlass (03:28):
Yeah, it is.
Uh, that's one aspect of beingmade in God's image.
God is obviously the ultimateCreator and he takes great joy
in his creation.
It's interesting when they'vedone deep dives into the depths
of the ocean, they foundcreatures that previously had
never been discovered, and theywere made in the depths of the
ocean.
And that's what we're doinghere today.
(03:48):
We're doing this because Godtook pleasure in having those in
that creativity.
And actually, not only were wecreated in God's image, but
we're given a job to be creative, because in Genesis it says
that we're supposed to rule andhave domain and basically be
stewards over the creation, thecreated world on earth, and
(04:09):
expand it and add value andinvent things, and so we can't
do that without creativity.
Aaron O'Connell (04:14):
And so, when I was working with one of those
creatures of the deep ocean, Ijust saw a video just the other
day, and it was this thing thatlooked like it was lifting up
its skirt just to walk, or towalk the floor.
Depths of the ocean Some crazystuff.
And it was.
It was, it was like changingcolors and it was just like
straight out of your nightmarestype of thing, you know, like
(04:34):
shape shifter type of thing,where, like you said, we we
don't even seen that it's beenover plus 5,000 or close to
5,000 years, however long it is,since God created these things
and we're just starting to seethem.
So it really shows what youwere saying of God taking
pleasure in creativity.
And I know for a fact for me,when I'm feeling creative, when
(04:57):
I create something, I takepleasure in it.
You know, it's great creatingthe program of why Too Fitness,
creating this podcast, because,even though it says it right
there in Ephesians 2,10, that wewere created for God's hand,
we're created for good works.
What are those good works?
Well, they can take a host ofdifferent things.
(05:18):
They can be creativity, allleft and right.
You could go from just being adesigner of pools to being a
designer of software, to beingthe best cook for finding the
most creative ways to be aparent.
Scott Barlass (05:32):
Yeah, absolutely, and what's really great about
the Lord and the Holy Spirit isthat we're all gifted in
different ways.
So we have different passions,different desires, different
skills, and then we havedifferent gifts as well, and so
there's different ways that wecan express that creativity.
And we're all not Michelangelo,we're not all great musicians,
but in our ordinary life we canstill come up with
(05:54):
out-of-the-box solutions.
We come up with different waysof thinking or handling a
problem or opportunity thatmaybe nobody thought of before,
or maybe it's just new to us.
Aaron O'Connell (06:03):
Yeah for sure.
And even within the health andfitness realm, so many people
want to get told what to do,they go back to that same old
I'm going to just do three setsof 10, doing this, I have to
lift weights, I have to docardio, when no one really said
that.
That's just an adaption fromthe bodybuilders, the
(06:24):
Michelangelo's, the Steve Jobsof working out and everyone
wants to emulate them.
But as a mother, as anoverweight man, as a desk jockey
, whatever you are, you weren'tcreated to be like oh, I'm going
to go lift weights and bash mymuscles and do all these things.
It's like no, go get creative,go figure out what you enjoy.
(06:47):
If it's pickleball, go playpickleball.
If it's hiking, go hiking.
If it's going searching shellson the beach, get up and go.
That is your fitness, it's youractivity.
That's more or less what Godwanted us for physical activity.
But it's like a lot of peoplelost that creativity.
Granted, there are some peopleI've seen in the gym.
(07:07):
They get a little too creativeand it makes you wonder and
scratch your head.
But if you go talk to them,they're usually the most
free-spirited people there arewhen they are doing that
creativity, creative workoutsand all that stuff.
So it just really goes to showthat creativity can be applied
in so many different areas thanjust art and in certain areas.
Scott Barlass (07:31):
You know, when I would do seminars on creativity,
the first thing I'll do is I'llask people raise your hand if
you think you're creative, andabout half the people do.
And I'll say raise your hand ifyou feel you're not creative.
And again about half the peopledo.
And I'll ask the people thatraise their hand saying I'm not
creative.
I'll say have you ever had anidea for improving a product
(07:53):
that you enjoy or a sport thatyou enjoy or a hobby you enjoy?
And everybody raises their hand.
Yeah, everybody's had an idea tocreate or to improve something
that they enjoy doing a hobby, aproduct, a passion of theirs,
and so everybody has ideas.
So therefore, everybody'screative.
Some ideas are further out thanother ideas, some are closer in
(08:17):
.
We brought a pickleball beforeand pickleball was created by
some guys in a backyard thatdidn't have a tennis court and
they wanted a paddle game.
So they got a wiffleball andthey started hitting that around
and the ball went rolling offthe court and their dog, pickle,
went and retrieved it andthat's why they call it
pickleball, but it's the fastestrunning sport in the United
(08:38):
States right now.
Aaron O'Connell (08:39):
I know that yeah.
Scott Barlass (08:41):
But it's a couple of guys that just had a
barbecue and decided let's startwhacking a ball around.
Wow.
So, that's creativity, no forsure.
Aaron O'Connell (08:48):
And you know, first Corinthians 1031 says so
whether you eat or drink orwhatever you do, do it for the
glory of God.
And what does that look like,doing it for the glory of God?
I like to imagine when youfirst met your wife, when you
first meet your girlfriend.
You're going above and beyond.
Usually You're going and doingthat next level thing.
(09:09):
You're not just thinking oflet's just go to the movies and
this.
You're like no, I'm going totake her on this route, I'm
going to bring her here, I'mgoing to surprise her with this.
You get creative with that planto kind of showcase that, to
stand out from the crowd.
And if we could take that inall that we do and like we're
celebrating God and all that wecan do, then in everything we're
(09:32):
doing we can find thatcreativity where it's not just
this mundane.
I'm going in and just going tomy job nine to five.
It's like no, if we do it forthe glory of God, that could be
the spark of looking for a wayto do it that much faster, that
much more effective, that muchmore efficient.
And that's how you would standout to an employer.
(09:52):
And you have bringing newsystems, possibilities,
proposals to that upper aboveand that may fast track you to
get you out of that humdrum nineto five and get you to where
you really are feeling a calling.
Yeah, exactly.
Scott Barlass (10:09):
One of the purposes that God has us on
earth is to help build thiskingdom on earth and have his
reign and rule throughout theearth, and so we're ambassadors
for Christ.
So when we're out there we'realmost double agents in the
workforce.
in a sense we're working forourselves we're working for
somebody else, we're working forthe customer, but we're really
(10:30):
working for the Lord and we'reout there to bring his values
and his system against the worldsystem and his creativity, so
we can improve things, makethings better.
And so, as we look at work,work is really a ministry.
Even in the most mundane typesof jobs sweeping a floor for a
living or something like that wecan still be creative.
(10:52):
When I was working for theRubbermaid Company, one of my
product line was garbage cansand industrial garbage cans.
So I was at O'Hare Airport onetime and I was just watching the
janitors how they worked and Isaw that they were taking the
brooms and the mops that theywere using to mop the floor and
they were putting back into themiddle of the garbage can.
(11:13):
And one guy was shaking hishead and I could tell he was
disturbed.
So I went up and I said so whatare you doing in your work
process here?
And he said well, I cleaned thefloor with this and then I have
to.
You know, my mop is supposed tobe clean.
I have to put it back into thegarbage can.
So I said well, what if youdidn't have to do that?
How would that work?
And he goes it would be greatif I could have an attachment on
(11:36):
the side of the garbage can soI wouldn't have to put my mop
inside the garbage can.
And so I took that back toRubbermaid and we made a caddy
that wrapped around the brutegarbage cans.
And that was years and yearsago and it's about a $10, $15
million business for Rubbermaidstill.
But it was because somebodythat had a mundane job
(11:58):
recognized that they didn't likethe way they had to do that
work and they had an idea formodifying the product.
I didn't have that idea.
They did.
So that's creativity.
Aaron O'Connell (12:07):
Yeah, it really is like.
An attitude is what it almostsounds like, because you either
are stuck in somethingcomplaining, or you're in
something looking foropportunity.
Scott Barlass (12:18):
Right, exactly, and I think it's a good point.
When we think about creativity,we think about problems and we
think about opportunities, andso problems are something that
have to be solved.
It's a distress or something.
Opportunities are something tobe gained and there's something
mentally when we approach aproblem or opportunity, to
define it correctly.
(12:39):
So we want to, if we want totalk about an opportunity, that
kind of energizes us becauseit's a chance for gaining
something and growing when wethink about a problem, it
energizes us in a different waybecause it's taking away a pain
point.
So our first step in looking atproblems or opportunities is
(12:59):
asking a question how can we orhow might we take advantage of
this opportunity or solve thisproblem?
And right away when you askthat question, you start
thinking of ideas.
You can't help it.
Aaron O'Connell (13:12):
Yeah, for sure, and going along that lines of
thinking of ideas, I'm actuallyin a small group with you for
business entrepreneurs and thelast session, just lo and behold
, was the creativity session,right, and you were talking
about.
It was an exercise that we didabout how to make bath time for
kids better, like, right, yep,because everyone is always has
(13:37):
an experience with taking a bath, whether it's themselves or
putting their kids into the bath.
And you stated something thatyou can't judge, no matter how
outlandish the idea is, becauseI think a lot of people stray
away from creativity.
A lot of people don't wannaspeak up with their ideas in
(13:58):
fear of judgment, you know,especially from whether it be
the peers, or they just don'twanna feel foolish, or oh,
that's impossible, go sit down,you know, would you say, that
might be a fear that people mayhave.
Scott Barlass (14:11):
Yeah, and I think it depends on personality.
When people that are a littlebit more extroverted, maybe, you
know, they will have less fearof being judged, usually for
their ideas, because they'reused to just throwing things out
.
People that tend to be a littlebit more analytic and they
really wanna think thingsthrough before they state
something, or maybe they're alittle bit more introverted.
(14:32):
They tend to not be able toexpress their ideas as quickly,
and that's one of the things ina brainstorming session or a
live idea generation session isto make sure that you get a
balance of people who areextroverted and the people that
are more introverted oranalytical, but then give them
time to express their ideas,because the people that are
(14:56):
really extroverted are gonna runaway with it and they'll be
three miles downstream and then,finally, the person that's
analytic and has really thoughtthis thing through will speak up
.
And so I think there's apersonality component in terms
of concern of being judged andmaking sure your idea is stated
as the right one, and I thinkone of the classic examples of
(15:19):
that is one of the most powerfultools for creative thinking or
out-of-the-box thinking is thewhat If?
tool, and so if you gave me alist of what Ifs and I put
together a list of what Ifs fora kid-friendly bathtub, they'd
be different.
And so I'd look at your listand it would make me think
totally differently, probably.
But what If?
Statements are basically meantto put reality on hold for a
(15:42):
moment and say, look, I'm justspeculating here, and so it's
easy to judge a what If and jumpin and say, well, that's
ridiculous.
So I could say, well, what Ifbathtubs could talk?
What?
Aaron O'Connell (15:53):
would they?
Scott Barlass (15:53):
say, and you might say, well, they'd play
tunes from the radio.
So that could be judged reallyquickly.
Or we could say, oh, okay,we'll build a speaker on the
side of the tub, control with asmartphone, so we may come up
with a great idea from kind of acrazy what If?
What If bathtubs could talk?
Yeah.
Aaron O'Connell (16:12):
Yeah, it's funny because I think I was that
extroverted person during theexercise, because the first
thing I said was what if it'snot even a tub?
What if it's like a conveyorbelt, where you just set the kid
in and then it does it all foryou?
And then they end up dressed atthe very end and everyone's
just kind of looking at me likeokay, and not many people had
(16:33):
many ideas.
And then the next thing I waslike what if there's a wave pool
in there that actually has likerip currents, where they could
like surf on it with theirBarbies and their kids and it
would be sealed in it?
And then I started saying weirdstuff Like what if you could
put like different dot pushbuttons with dies and they mixed
to different colors, you know?
And then that, actually fromsomebody else's idea, then
turned into different LED lightsthroughout the whole thing
(16:55):
where the kid can be mixingcolors and the water turns that
color.
Then I started saying like whatif it could get cold or hot
instantly and then it's sealedoff with the speaker in there
and then it could be story time.
So if they're going through itthey were going through the
desert and all of a sudden itgets warm.
And then the next thing, youknow it, they saw a mirage and
(17:17):
it was this cool wave coming.
And the wave comes and it getsa little cold and there's all
different sounds in it and atthe end of it we're like did we
just create a Walt Disney Worldride?
Scott Barlass (17:30):
And sometimes the ideas that are.
You know, the ideas are thewhat ifs that are the furthest
out end up having the mostpotential.
You know, when phones wereinvented, they hooked into a
wall and somebody said, well,what if I could carry my phone
around?
Yeah, well, ok, we'll make alonger cord.
Well, what if I can carry myphone in the car?
Ok, we'll put an antenna in thecar, we'll give you a car phone
(17:52):
.
You know, and then phonesdidn't have cameras.
So what if we could takepictures with this thing?
No, for sure what if we couldhave a camera in the front, one
in the back.
So the ideas that are furthestout often are the ones that are
the most revolutionary Wow, interms of hitting the market.
Aaron O'Connell (18:10):
No for sure, and I love that that you were
saying with differentpersonalities, because it makes
me think back of Exodus 31.3.
When God instructed Moses tobuild that tabernacle, he filled
the craftsman with his spiritto be able to do all the
different skills and tasks.
That's why we're the body ofChrist, why it's so important to
(18:31):
be amongst people me be able tohang out with you, but hanging
out with that person and beingamongst the body, being a part
of the church, because, as goodas someone can be, steve Jobs
was amazing, but without thepeople around him, nothing
probably would have happened.
He may have had all the ideas,but he didn't have the technical
work to make this and to bringthat in there.
(18:52):
He probably he may not have thebusiness to be able to mass,
produce it and put it alltogether.
And that's what I really loveabout having a good church body
around you, having groups likeour group, because we all are
filled with the Holy Spirit indifferent ways.
We have the different gifts andwe can express those in
different ways.
Scott Barlass (19:13):
And really, if you think about it, the
Christian community should bemore entrepreneurial and more
innovative than thenon-Christian community, because
we do have the Holy Spirit, wedo have the gifts of the Holy
Spirit, we have a mandate fromGod to go out, rule, domain,
steward the creation and make itbetter, bring God's kingdom to
(19:34):
earth.
But we also have an admonitionin the Bible to encourage each
other, exhort each other, buildeach other up.
And so part of being innovativeis taking that risk and saying,
oh, this is a crazy.
What if?
In the Christian body, weshould be encouraging each other
and going, instead of saying,well, that'll never work, or boy
(19:55):
, that's a stupid idea, where wetried that before, or we don't
have the technology, it would belike, oh, that's interesting,
tell me more about it, andthat's more encouraging.
That opens up the flow ofcreative thinking, and that what
if?
Might not be the solution, butit may lead to another what if?
Or it might lead to an idea,just kind of like stepping
stones, so you never want to getrid of the first stepping stone
(20:17):
.
Aaron O'Connell (20:17):
Wow, yeah, with what you said, we should be
more creative, more entrepreneur.
From your observation throughthe years that you've been doing
this, have you seen that to bethe case?
Scott Barlass (20:30):
I think I haven't seen Christians in general be
more entrepreneurial thannon-Christians.
I haven't really seen that.
I've seen some Christianorganizations be very
entrepreneurial and creative.
I've seen some churches supportbusiness formation within the
body of Christ, the local bodyof Christ.
(20:50):
I think there's a hugeopportunity for us there.
Aaron O'Connell (20:53):
If we think about.
Scott Barlass (20:55):
there's a certain amount of wealth out in the
world and wealth can grow, buthow much of that is controlled
by God's kingdom or part ofGod's kingdom, versus the world
system?
So if we can have moreChristians developing businesses
, more entrepreneurs out therebuilding businesses and they're
tithing they're honoring Godwith their tithe we can bring
(21:17):
more money into the kingdom.
We can do more good in theworld.
We can bring more value topeople's lives.
Aaron O'Connell (21:24):
For sure.
Scott Barlass (21:25):
So, to me, christian entrepreneurship is
really an opportunity that weneed to explore.
We need to expand, we need togrow.
Aaron O'Connell (21:34):
I agree and I love that paradigm that you took
is that we should be havingthat creativity to bring God's
kingdom here on to earth.
It's our great commission to goand affect this world for the
positive, which means creatingthings.
But, like you said, you kind ofsee more entrepreneurship, more
creativity from almostnon-Christians.
(21:54):
I'm wondering maybe that'sbecause when people aren't
Christians they don't have anymeaning to their life.
They're doing things almost outof fear of I may not be worth
anything.
What is going to be my legacy?
How am I going to stand out?
What about me?
What about me?
That's driving them, and out ofthat fear-based, where
(22:15):
Christians, we find God and it'slike a lot of them may not get
to their potential, that truepotential of getting to that
creativity, because it's more ofwhat's God doing for me.
He keeps me comforted, he getsall that.
It's all about that.
But not into that final step ofwhat can I do for God when that
realization of your Christianwalk of like I'm good, what can
(22:38):
I do for God?
Because when I did that, when Ifinally got to the point after
questioning my life, it actuallyhappened in your class Because
I was like, why can't I do?
Why can't I start this podcast,why don't I do the things that
I say I want to do?
And God met me after one ofthese classes and he said that
last thing that you need to dieto, where you say, when I move
(22:58):
my finger, the waters part.
I've been very blessed, I'vebeen very favored from God my
whole life.
I've gotten out of so muchtrouble that I shouldn't have
all that and I've almost usedthat as an identity and it was
keeping me procrastinating, notdoing things, not loving people
the way that I want, not workingas hard as I should.
Because I realized if I startworking hard and even if I get
(23:23):
the reward, but if I don't getthe reward, I can't say that
anymore.
I can't say I work so littleand have so much.
And that was the last piecethat I had to die to.
And then, all of a sudden, boom, the next day I recorded my
podcast.
And when you finally die toyour last bit of self and say
it's no longer about me or anyidentities that I have, it's all
(23:44):
about you, that's when Ibelieve the creativity and God's
spark and his ability to workthrough you just manifests.
Scott Barlass (23:54):
I agree with that .
Christ said we're supposed todeny ourselves pick up our trust
daily, and that means who's onthe throne of our life every day
.
Are we going to be our own godsevery day, or are we going to
live in the true vine, which isJesus, where the true life is?
And it's interesting our pastor, pastor Scott Baw, had a series
(24:14):
called Made for More.
The first sermon in that serieswas you're here on earth to
have a loving relationship withGod, and so that's the primary
thing.
If you have that lovingrelationship, it's not about
legalism anymore, it's not aboutreligiosity or churchianity, or
it's not about having to proveourselves in the business world
(24:36):
that we're worthy.
We have that acceptance fromGod.
Number two is to be transformedand be more like Jesus, to
serve others, to bring value toothers, to be honest and ethical
.
And once we have those things,then the third sermon was we're
here to build God's kingdom.
So we have that relationshipwith God, we're transformed
excuse me to be more like Jesus,and that really empowers us to
(24:59):
get out there in the world, setourselves aside and do what you
did, take that risk, put thatfear aside.
Aaron O'Connell (25:07):
Yeah, I love that and, like you said, we
always say end every time, don'tconform, but be transformed.
And that's Romans 12-2,.
Do not copy or conform to thepatterns of this world.
Or copy the patterns of thisworld.
Instead, be renewed by, or betransformed by, the renewing of
your mind.
And with that I feel like a lotof Christians will tend to
(25:30):
conform to this world.
That their push, their businesspush, their entrepreneur push,
does come out of that fear ofnot having enough, maybe not
doing enough, to get kind oflegalistic with things of like
am I not doing enough?
But if we could instead stopthat and be transformed by the
renewing of our mind and justhave that paradigm shift of what
(25:50):
can I do for God?
What can you know?
Not so much.
What do I need to do?
What do I get to do?
Right?
And if we could just do alittle bit of change that right
there will then maybe have Godstep in and give us those ideas.
Because if we're trying to do itall on our own and we're trying
to do it all on our own mightby copying patterns of this
(26:12):
world, but we are trulyChristians God might keep that
block there right in front ofyou.
Because if you do go get thatsuccess, you're going to think
it's all about you.
It could be a downward spiral.
It could be something thatcould lead into losing your
family because it sucked you in.
You can be.
If he cannot, you have thatblock and then you finally trust
(26:32):
him, give it all to him.
Don't do it your way, a patternin this world, but a way of I
get to do this for God.
He may remove that block andthen boom, here comes success,
and you're not going to thenslip into negatives or lose
anything, but instead get closerto him.
Scott Barlass (26:49):
Yeah, I agree with that, and I think part of
that has to do with contentment,where contentment comes from.
So if we can be content in theknowledge that God adopted us
into his family and it gave himgreat pleasure to do that, and
that he'll provide all of ourneeds and that we have heavenly
treasures and rewards as welland our life in the flesh is
(27:10):
really short, it's a drop in theocean and so if we have that
eternal perspective and we trustin God and we're here to serve
him he's on the throne of ourlife then if he gives us passion
to pursue something and we'veprayed about it, we've sought
wise counsel and it looks like,yeah, take that risk, go ahead
and do that.
Even if it doesn't work out forsome reason, we can still be
(27:31):
content because we have the mostvaluable thing that there is.
We have that relationship withGod that's eternal.
So I think that brings freedomin terms of being able to
explore new opportunities, takerisks, think out of the box,
because we don't have that fearof failure anymore.
That fear of failure can goaway.
Aaron O'Connell (27:51):
Yeah for sure.
And you know, john 15.5 says Iam the vine, you are the
branches.
If you remain in me and I andyou, you will bear much fruit,
because apart from me you can donothing.
And if you are doing thingsapart from him, it could be so
successful, worldly terms, money, cars, possessions, all that
(28:13):
that still is nothing, andthat's the best case scenario is
nothing, and best case scenariousually doesn't happen.
Usually it's a lot worse thanbest case scenario.
So you're not just going to bedoing nothing, you are going to
be reaping death, like you know,in turmoil and trouble.
That's why it's just soimportant to not lean on that
(28:35):
old understanding but in allyour ways acknowledge Christ and
he's going to show you whichpath to take.
Like people don't understandthat, which is like for me, I
maybe have planned out a couplepodcasts, but I had no idea
you'd be sitting here.
I had no idea of a multiplepeople that I've been able to
already interview.
But that's because God'sshowing me that path.
It wasn't me.
(28:56):
I didn't lean on that oldunderstanding.
If I was leaning on myunderstanding, I don't even
think we'd be here today,because there was already some
kind of music in the backgroundalready.
You got people coming in and outright now, you know, but it's
like you know what?
No, I'm going to give this toGod.
I won't lean on it, whatever hewill then show me the path to
take.
And it just when you lean onGod, it just everything explodes
(29:18):
, right.
Scott Barlass (29:19):
Yeah, it does, and I think that one of the
things that we want to do ishere at Journey is we want to
really stimulate people they'reChristians to create new
businesses, be entrepreneurs, becreative in their business
roles.
Even if they're middlemanagement, you know level and
they're managing people, theycan still have a lot of
creativity and prove thosebusinesses.
(29:40):
So one of the things is how doyou help Christians that don't
know how to start a business?
How do you help them do that?
And there's tons of secularorganizations that do that.
They have incubators andaccelerators and things like
that, but from a Christianstandpoint it's very, very
limited.
So you know, my vision is tohave an entrepreneurial boot
(30:03):
camp that's faith-based.
So we lay the foundation of whydo you want to have this
business?
And in fact, when you get thisbusiness, you don't own the
business.
God owns the business becausehe owns everything, and Proverbs
says that God gives us theabilities to create wealth.
So even our ability to be ableto create wealth at some point
doesn't come from us, eventhat's God's and then be able to
(30:26):
take these baby businessesthrough an incubator process and
have wise Christian mentors whohave business experience and
mature spiritually and helpguide them in developing those
entrepreneurial ventures.
And so it's wrapped theentrepreneurial vision is
wrapped in the faith, and it'sfor God, and it's by.
(30:47):
God.
So that's the vision.
Aaron O'Connell (30:49):
Oh, that's a great vision that reminds me of
1 Peter, 4, 10.
Each of you should use whatevergift you have received to serve
others as faithful stewards ofGod's grace in its various forms
.
And you're doing that rightthere.
You're not.
You're not just keeping yourcreativity in, you're using it
for the benefit of others.
And that's the true ex like theexpression of faith.
(31:12):
Because, again, even Jesus saidwhat is love?
What?
How do you?
What is real, genuine love?
What's real religion?
Serving widows and needy peopleand the poor, you know, and
children, and when it's not justwidows, it's not just the needy
or the homeless, it's thepeople that are in need.
We are to serve each other,we're supposed to lift each
(31:33):
other up, and I just love that.
That's your vision.
It's amazing.
Scott Barlass (31:37):
And that's what I love about Christian
entrepreneurship, because, again, if we can take more money out
of the worldly system intoChrist's kingdom, then there's
more money to help the oppressed, help the people that are
pushed down in life, the peoplethat Jesus had so much
compassion for, the humbled inthis life, and we have an
opportunity to really bless morepeople, bring more people into
(32:00):
the kingdom, help people getfree from their addictions from
maybe the past when they've beenabused, things that are really
troubling their minds.
So for me, Christianentrepreneurship isn't just
about helping the entrepreneurbecome wealthy which they may,
and that's great if God blessesthem that way but it's really
about bringing money into thekingdom so God's purposes can be
(32:22):
fulfilled on earth to an evenlarger degree.
So that's kind of what it's allabout for me.
Aaron O'Connell (32:27):
I love that and I want to just actually shift
gears just a little bit and askyou a more personal question,
which is how long have you beenwalking with the Lord?
Scott Barlass (32:37):
So I grew up Viking, which means I went to
Viking football games instead ofchurch and the times that we
would go to church.
It was a Lutheran church andthey basically read the prayers
and at that age, as a teenager,it was kind of boring, but I
didn't really feel a presence ofGod there.
When I did go to church, andthat was only a couple of times
(32:59):
a year.
And then I was on the varsityfootball team as a junior in
high school.
In the first practice I wasabout 140 pound, running back,
ran into the line on a dive playand a guy named John Lewis,
who's six, six 250 pounds inhigh school, picked me up by the
shoulder pads and he saidyou're coming to the prayer
(33:19):
meeting after the game.
Aaron O'Connell (33:22):
So I'm like okay.
Scott Barlass (33:23):
I'm going to the prayer meeting.
So I went in there and thereare probably 10 or 12 of the
football players and some of thecheerleaders and they started
praying.
But it struck me because theywere talking to God like he was
actually real.
It wasn't a written prayer, itwas coming from their heart.
And some of them had these bigfootball players you know, just
(33:44):
had emotion.
You could tell that they hadsomething I didn't have.
So I went to a couple more ofthose.
And then there was a retreatthrough an organization called
Young Life.
And so when on the retreat itwas a camp way up in northern
Minnesota and it was for all thefootball players in that in
that district and thecheerleaders, and I thought, oh,
(34:05):
this would be a cool way tomeet some girls.
And little did.
I know I met Jesus.
That's awesome.
And yeah, they did a skit wherethey had a Roman centurion
nailing big spikes into a cross,huge cross, and there were
probably 400 kids there,football players and
cheerleaders in a circle aroundus and most of them were weeping
and I thought they knowsomething that I don't know.
(34:28):
They have a relationship withGod.
That.
I don't have and I wanted it.
I wanted it.
So they gave the gospel messageand they said go out alone into
the woods for an hour and talkto God.
And so it was in October and Iaccepted Jesus then.
And what's interesting is whenI got back on Monday, my best
(34:52):
friend told another friend wecan't hang out with Scott
anymore because he's not thesame person.
He's radically changed.
Aaron O'Connell (35:00):
Really yeah, wow.
Scott Barlass (35:02):
And so, yeah, that's how it happened for me.
Aaron O'Connell (35:05):
That's a great testimony.
Thank you for sharing that.
Did you then?
Did you remain relatively onfire or did you drift away at
any point after that?
Scott Barlass (35:15):
Yeah, I did for a few years and then got married
young, at 19.
And then ended up having somekids.
And then I don't know what itwas.
I don't know if I wanted tomodel my dad.
My dad was a very successfulentrepreneur and so I just had
this goal all of a sudden of Iwant to make X amount of money
(35:36):
by this age, and so I threwmyself into corporate life.
I went to work for ProcterGamble and brand management just
kind of like a PhD in marketingthis after my master's degree
and worked there for you foryears.
I worked on Tide and Joy brands.
Then I went to Robbermaid andwas there for a few years and
started a business for them asan entrepreneur in the
(35:58):
agricultural market.
So I had industrial design,engineering, marketing, sales
working for me.
And then I moved to the Torocompany Lawn Mowers and
Snowblowers and ended up runningall of the functions for the
consumer business, which wasabout a $600 million business at
that time.
I had everything except formanufacturing and so I was
(36:19):
climbing the corporate ladder.
So I was a vice president levelby the time I was 28.
Oh, wow, and big companies.
And so at the age of 35, I hadalways in my master's program I
always wanted to be a consultant.
I had done consulting during myprogram for a couple of
Metronik was one and GouldBattery Company was another so I
(36:40):
got a taste for consulting.
I really liked the idea Veryeclectic, I like learning, and
so that was always on my radarscreen.
And so, after spending thoseyears in corporate life, at 35,
I started a business with abusiness partner and our
business was focused oninnovation and creativity.
So we basically became theintermediaries between, maybe,
(37:02):
the technical people in acompany like 3M and the
marketing people, and so we'dhelp them discover what customer
needs were, unmet needs, whatthe pain points were, and then
we'd do brainstorming sessionsand help them come up with ideas
to solve those needs.
Then we'd help test thoseconcepts with customers and then
once they would say, hey, okay,we're going to develop, like
(37:23):
Sherwin Williams, we're going todevelop this paint, and then we
would step out.
We weren't part of thedevelopment process.
So we're kind of the upfront,creative thinking stimulus kind
of organization.
So ran that business for manyyears and then retired at 47 and
moved down to the Caribbean andthen was creative in different
(37:43):
ways and become a certifiedunderwater videographer and
photographer and doing otherthings like that.
Wow, yeah, wow.
Aaron O'Connell (37:52):
And during that time, when would you say that?
When would you say your faithreally started building back up?
Because clearly you were busyduring a lot of that?
When did you really startmaking the?
Because it had to be hard.
If anyone that's climbing thecorporate ladder to you know
there's such a concern of makingit through working hard, doing
(38:15):
it all by your own self andinstead letting God guide it,
when would you say you reallyended up giving your life
totally for God within thatprocess?
Scott Barlass (38:25):
Yeah, so I never, I never lost my faith.
Yeah, I always believed inJesus, I always considered
myself to be a child of God,okay, and you know, went to
church and things like that.
But you know again, my pursuit,my treasure was, and where my
heart was was on material gainand buying houses and sports
(38:45):
cars and those types of things.
So so I sacrificed some of myfamily.
I mean I traveled 60% of thetime so kids were growing up,
you know, without me around alot and you know, thankfully,
you know I've got greatrelationship with all my kids
Now.
Aaron O'Connell (39:00):
You know that's a blessing from the Lord.
Scott Barlass (39:02):
So I think what really hit me was when I had
acquired wealth, we moved on tothe islands, retired there.
We had a few homes on theisland, had all the toys we
wanted.
It just felt like empty.
There just was somethingmissing, right?
So all of those treasuresdidn't really bring me
contentment or joy.
(39:23):
So I climbed a mountain and Ifound out it was the wrong one.
Aaron O'Connell (39:27):
Yep.
Scott Barlass (39:28):
And and so, you know, through that process of
just trying to find contentment,you know, I came back to Christ
, and then in a more faithfulway, and then my wife had a
serious health event, Almostdied.
She was 15 minutes away fromdying.
Wow.
Thankfully we're back visitingMinnesota, where we grew up, and
(39:49):
she was able to get the medicalcare she needed.
So that was a big shocker.
So that you know, that was, youknow, a point where we're like,
okay, this is serious, thiscould end, you know, pretty
quickly here and and so we endedup moving back, you know, from
the islands, getting involvedwith the church and then moving
(40:10):
down here.
We got involved with the churchand actually going through the
freedom program that we havehere at Journey.
My, my question was how can Iserve God with the years that I
have remaining, for, with everyminute I have left in my breath?
Because I was down herementoring through FAU.
I was mentoring veteransthrough the Veteran
(40:31):
Entrepreneurship Program.
I'm on the board of directorsfor Tech Runway, which is a of
incubator.
We have five board members and110 mentors and we put 40
businesses a year.
That's awesome, it was great,but it was still.
You know, am I really servingGod in those roles, yeah, and so
going through freedom, I'dreally got a vision, for I want
(40:54):
to spend all the time that Ihave left in my life helping
Christians who are in businesstake their faith from Sunday and
bring it into their business,whether they're a mid-level
manager or whether they're anentrepreneur.
How can they really make theirbusiness a ministry and their
leadership in a business aministry?
(41:14):
So that's that's.
My whole vision is trying toequip and encourage business
people to do that.
Aaron O'Connell (41:21):
Yeah, I love that because you said you
climbed the mountain and yourealized it was the wrong one.
Yeah, and the analogy I use isyou climb up the ladder
realizing it was against thewrong building.
Exactly Because I always givethat example of you don't want
to go and run off and say I'mstarting this business, I'm
doing all this stuff to takecare of my family, and then, in
(41:41):
the whole gist of it, you neverspend any time with your family.
You finally make all this moneyand they don't want anything to
do with you.
Right, it's like, okay, who wasit really for?
And within fitness, that's why Ido what I do with.
Why, to fitness, with where Ibreak help Christians experience
inner peace over their physicalhealth and their appearance,
because you, you this in withinthis group.
(42:04):
You got it said best it was.
We're in the business ofobedience.
God is in the business ofresults and when we look at it
that way, so many people in thehealth and fitness industry are
trying to achieve this amazinggoal and every and throughout
the whole thing, everyone's highfiving them working out,
dieting, doing all these things,and they're they're a lot of
(42:25):
them are miserable doing it.
They're giving up social,social gatherings.
They're, they're, they'reirritable, they're.
You know, their emotions arebuilt up and whether they do or
whether they don't, whether theywork out or they don't, whether
they eat something specific ornot, and they will surround
their whole lives on it.
And not that many people do getto their goals, but most people
(42:48):
that get to their goals I wasone of them they realize how
empty it is and they're just ascrazy they're, just as they're
picking themselves apart morethey're, more insecure they're,
they're, they're going well.
I used to have this much fatand now all of a sudden, they're
grabbing a very little bit, butbecause they ate a bagel
yesterday, they're like, oh,don't, look at me.
(43:09):
It almost like it's worse,because now they're feeling
crazy about it.
And that's why I stoppedpersonal training, because I
wanted to truly help people.
And, just like you said, youwere, you've climbed that,
you've helped, you were helpingpeople.
You had, you're on the board ofdirectors, you're still helping
them.
But within that there wasn'tthis Jesus can do apart.
(43:31):
And it said, like we alreadyheard that the verse apart from
me, you can do nothing, you knownothing when Jesus isn't in it.
There's nothing there, andthat's one big thing that I want
to just stress to everyonethat's been listening is through
entrepreneurship, throughfitness and anything of this
world, it is not going tofulfill you.
(43:53):
Only Christ can, and when wecan, take that paradigm still do
all the same things.
You're doing the same thingsincubator for FAU, you're doing
groups here in in two campusesand you're helping as many
people as you can within church,but all it is is taking the
focus off self and putting itback onto Christ.
(44:13):
Exactly, Yep, I love that andjust to close up, I was.
I was wondering if you have anyadvice to the listeners,
whether that's how to be morecreative or just anything that
you would want to depart withour listeners for them to really
take home.
Scott Barlass (44:28):
I think there's two things.
Number one is what you weretalking about where does content
come from?
And it's not through having acertain physical appearance,
it's not through possessions,money, those things.
Those things fade away.
And Jesus said you knowwherever your treasure is,
that's where your heart's goingto be.
And he also said you know, mypeace I give to you, not as the
(44:48):
world gives peace.
Aaron O'Connell (44:50):
And so John 14, 27.
Scott Barlass (44:51):
Yeah so if we want that peace, we have to be
connected to Jesus.
He can't give us that peace ifwe're trying to do things on our
own.
We have to live for Him andwithin Him to have that kind of
peace.
There's so many people that arejust ripped with anxiety these
days and they'll say well, howmuch time have you spent with
Jesus this week?
Well, I haven't read my Bibleat all, I haven't prayed at all.
(45:14):
Unless you tap into the sourceof peace, you're not going to
have that peace.
From a creativity standpoint, Ithink the goal again, as you
stated really well, is we'rehere to serve God and so when
we're working, we're trying tobe creative in our jobs or even
our family life.
How do we manage kids?
How do we do these things?
It really it's like God, I wantto serve you.
(45:37):
So give me some ideas of how todo this.
Give me wisdom.
The other part is is seekingwisdom from other people,
seeking wise counsel.
So even in the Proverbs is fullof that.
So it's.
It's not just I can come upwith ideas on my own.
There's real power in lookingat a problem or opportunity from
different perspectives, butalso getting the perspectives of
(45:58):
different people and tappinginto their wisdom, because,
ultimately, creative solutionsare combination of knowledge and
we can't have all the knowledgewithin ourselves.
So I think reaching out toother people, getting their
perspectives, was key.
And then there's basicallythree tools that we've
integrated into idea base andthat I like to use when I'm
(46:19):
trying to help somebody thinkcreatively.
And one is we talked about asthe what?
Aaron O'Connell (46:22):
if question.
Scott Barlass (46:24):
And that's just.
Let's put reality on hold andjust think way out of the box,
and it may be casting outfurther than we can ever reach,
but it might be a stepping stoneto something else that actually
reminds me of Google.
Aaron O'Connell (46:35):
They had the moonshots, right, you know they
were.
They literally got like bonusesIf they realized it failed,
right, they would just takemoonshots of all these things,
you go and they would get allthe resources they could.
And when you were admitted thatyou say, okay, this is
impossible and you failed, theyactually celebrated that and it
(46:58):
just and that's the top of thetop people at Google doing that
so they tried.
Because they tried and amongstthat they then not only realized
what can't be done, butthroughout that process they
realized wow, there is actually.
We may have aimed for the moon,but we got.
Now we got satellites fromSpaceX floating all around with
(47:18):
internet to everybody.
You know there's things thatwill happen when you go really
far out in the middle, but sorry, I caught you off, and that's
what.
If is what.
Scott Barlass (47:27):
IF is like a mental moonshot, and so the
other tool that really workswell is analogies.
So if we wanted to makebathtubs more fun for kids, we'd
say find analogies, what's funfor kids Slime fountains,
aquariums, music bubbles, carwash, whatever it is.
You list out those analogiesand all of a sudden it's gonna
(47:49):
lead you to ideas.
The other tool that's reallyeffective is principles of how
or why things work that mightapply to your problem or
opportunity.
So if you're in a nonprofit,you might you know it used to be
Google, not maybe you're gonnause chat, gpt or something.
You're gonna say, okay, give meprinciples of effective
fundraising and you're gonna get50 principles back.
(48:11):
Now, when you see thoseprinciples, you can apply those
to your situation and say, okay,that gives me ideas.
So, for example, if we wanted tomake bathtubs safer for kids, a
principle of safety is amonitored system is more safe.
So you could think of a lot ofways to monitor a bathtub.
You could physically havecameras there.
If your kids are playing, youcould see them on the smartphone
(48:32):
.
Or maybe you have a high wateralarm that's built in there.
So if the kids kind of go under, the water level rises and
alarm goes off.
So principles, analogies andwhat ifs are really powerful
tools for creative out of thebox thinking.
Aaron O'Connell (48:49):
Oh, I love that .
Thank you so much for all yourknowledge that you're just
bringing to this and if youwouldn't mind if I close the
cell for prayer, absolutely Allright, dear heavenly father.
Just thank you so much for thetechnology of podcasts to be
able to spread this messagethroughout to anyone that is
willing to listen.
I pray that those that aretuning in or have ears to hear,
(49:09):
lord, that they become morecreative, that they start
looking at this world in a wayof how they can serve you, not
how they can serve themselves,how they can channel your Holy
Spirit of creativity, lord, intotheir own businesses, into
their own walks and daily lives,so they can enjoy it more, so
they can be just experiencinglife with you, because you are
(49:32):
the God of joy, god of peace,the God of comfort, lord, and
when we do life with you, it'sjust so much better.
So, lord, anyone that'slistening, that's what I pray
over them, and I also just wannajust pray for Scott and just
his ministry that he's doing.
I pray that he's able to startup all the things that he wants
to start up, that there's a massfollowing for it, that it just
(49:53):
goes out to all the places thatyou want it to so he can
positively affect this world foryour kingdom.
So when he does come up to youhe hears those words well done,
my faithful servant, and hasmajor treasure in there, because
he stopped storing up thetreasure here on earth and
instead started storing it upfor you.
(50:14):
Lord, bless him, bless hisfamily, bless his health, and in
Jesus' powerful name I pray.
Scott Barlass (50:20):
Amen.
Well, thank you so much, scott.
Yeah, my pleasure have a goodone, that's great, thank you.
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