The Time Out Journey helps map a course through the current and changing season facing the church and Christians around the world today. The Journey can be characterised by some core objectives, namely

• Inspiring people into a deeper relationship with God,
• Empowering people to reach their highest potential,
• Transforming society through love and creative mission.

Along this journey there are some critical junctures which we will take a look at so that we understand the design and intentionality of God for us as individuals and for His body the church. God's design is perfect and He created us for great purpose and fulfilment, but as with any creation there are conditions requiring to be met in order to function as the Creator intended. We will take a broad look across a number of different aspects of our spiritual life, examining church and providing the right kind of atmosphere for life to flourish

The phases of our journey can be broken down as follows

PHASE Area of Transformation

• Foundation Centre
• Habitation Character
• Inspiration Conception
• Invitation Confidence
• Release Culture
• Chaos Church
• Mission Community

Foundation

The core value behind TOM comes directly from John 15, which instructs us to abide in Jesus and He is us. This is so needed in every believer's life and yet often so poorly adopted. Intimacy with the Lord is the prerequisite for all life and ministry; indeed we are taught that apart from Him we can do nothing. I would go on to say, "There is a journey upon which we are all embarked, and as much as it is an outward journey of mission, work and ministry, it is first a journey of the inner man in the pursuit of God himself." This approach and lifestyle not only yields "much fruit", but also places the believer in a relationship of friendship with Jesus, and a place of revelation. This friendship and revelation form the right foundation for mission to succeed.

Habitation

Developing from a look at foundations, the second phase of habitation focuses on the influence that living in Christ makes within the life of a believer. This is explored at three levels. Firstly that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit and the importance this places upon personal holiness and consecration. Secondly the innate hunger within the heart of man for the presence of God and how this is outworked through the concept of building altars. And lastly the mandate upon man to inhabit the uninhabited, to exercise dominion authority in occupying un-chartered territory for God

Inspiration

The first two phases of foundation and habitation are all connected around intimacy with God. Out of this position of abiding in Christ comes revelation. Jesus said "everything I have learned from my Father I have made known to you." Revelation is the key to progress. We cannot grow beyond revelation. There is part of our human makeup which is created by God to engage on a spiritual level with Him. It is the realm of the spirit and redeemed imagination. Imagination in the sense of conception and envisioning that which is not yet born. So often God would communicate His purposes for His children and the nation Israel by engaging with them in their imagination, this runs parallel with faith which is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen.

Invitation

Critical if the potential within us is to be fulfilled is that we take responsibility for what God has given us: To realise that we have been invited by God to participate in His Kingdom purpose. The invitation phase is essentially about understanding that we are sons and not servants, and what this means to us as individuals. A servant does not know his master's business and must ask permission to do anything. This teaching reveals that permission is granted to be ourselves and accomplish what He has given us to do. It transitions the believer from a "slave" mindset that needs approval and release, into one of sonship where we have the freedom to do what we want. Obviously there are dangers here, and the importance of servanthood still applies as we love and serve one another, but these are examined, drawing from the example of the prodigal son, where one son used his freedom unwisely, whereas the other son had a slave mentality which hindered his relationship with his father and prevented him from receiving his inheritance

Release

The first four phases of the Time Out journey are essentially about the individual. The last three phases are focussed more on context. Yes the value of the individual journey must be upheld and respected, but it is within the context of relationships with others both inside and outside the church that the individual is positioned. And so there must be an empowering culture which facilitates the individual journey and releases them into what God has called them to. This is about cultural transformation: A culture which reflects the Biblical teaching of spurring one another on towards love and good deeds. This is a bold challenge to current church trends which can struggle with release which is about sending out, opting for the lure of stability which is about drawing in. This begins the transition of church away from institution towards more of an organic model.

Chaos

There is a relatively new approach to management which has been developing over the last few years, which is the art of applying lessons from nature and living systems into organisations to better enable them to cope with change and become more effective. Chaos here is used in terms of complexity and non-linear interaction as akin to any living system and environment. In this phase we borrow from this new science and see if some of the principles being successfully applied in business, governments and even armed forces can be used in the context of church and Christian practice.

Mission

It is important to differentiate between church and mission. Church is not ours but His, as such church is His mission and so is predefined and not open for preference or debate. Jesus said I will build my church, no clearer insight could be given in this regard. On the other hand, God calls each of us to mission as well. And so our mission is not to build His church, our mission is to extend His Kingdom. This principle changes our entire approach to church and mission. Church isn't something you do, it's something you are already. Our efforts, assets and resources should primarily be involved in mission. Metaphorically, we need to be a lot lighter and less restricted. This phase explores these concepts and the role of mission at an individual level, and also collectively by working together towards shared objectives.

Conclusion

The Time Out Journey starts with the individual and ends with corporate and personal mission. It is a journey which begins and ends in intimacy. Through intimacy and abiding in Christ, we are position correctly to receive, amongst other things, revelation from God. This revelation forms the basis for growth and spiritual accomplishment. This is a central truth behind Time Out Mission: That God engages with His people through spiritual envisioning and imagination, to impregnate us through the Holy Spirit, with that which He desires to bring about. This is the place of conception, but in order for the "seed" to germinate and mature, takes the right nurturing and environment to grow, and so the emphasis moves from the individual to the corporate, to encourage a move towards the edge of chaos where creativity is maximised, the church becomes a movement and the Spirit of God has the greatest freedom to accomplish the intentions of His heart.