Leaving Egypt, by Chuck DeGroat

Chuck DeGroat gives us a great book dealing with the things that enslave each of us. I would highly recommend this book for Pastors doing Pastoral care / counseling. Also Lay Counselors within a church setting would also benefit. The Laity will also benefit from this book, but those of us doing counseling will truly resonate with what Chuck has to say as the examples he uses are easy to tie in with people we are counseling.

Chuck takes a Biblical look at the Israelite nation and their enslavement in Egypt and what happens when they leave that land and set off through the desert for the promised land. He uses that as an example for helping us to see that we have many things that enslave each of us. Whether it is the classics, drugs, alcohol or sex or whether it is not so classic such as social networking, work, sports, food, etc. Each of us has something that has taken some control of our lives. Why do we let that happen and what should we do about it.

Chuck points out how when the Israelites first went to Egypt all was good. Life was fine, they had Joseph there who was in charge and gave them good land, good homes and good work to do. But as they grew in population and another Pharaoh came to power the children of Israel found themselves trapped as slaves. They started to cry out to God and he heard their cries and sent Moses to rescue them.

But once rescued they faced the serious issues of wondering if they had left a good thing behind. What is this desert that they are in. What are the odds that they are facing when they get to the promised land? What about the 'giants' in the land that God wants them to displace? Maybe we were better off as slaves.

The same thing happens to us today. Maybe we are slaves to our workaholic lifestyle. We try to change but then we don't have as much money or prestige and we wonder, should we go back.

Through many real life examples Chuck takes us through the four stages of the crisis that the nation of Israel found themselves in when they left Egypt. Those are stages that each of us face as we leave behind what enslaves us and press on to follow God into the unknown.

The book is well written. It has plenty of examples. It even has review / thought questions at the end of each chapter to help you think through what you read or as discussion starters for a small group.

I think everyone will benefit from this book, but I truly think that anyone doing counseling within the church setting will find this a very practical, useful and at times funny and encouraging read.

Enjoy!