My Latest Book Is “Hot Off the Presses”! 

My latest book is now available via the Association of Biblical Counselors.

Parakaleo and Noutheteo: Understanding and Applying Two Richly Practical Biblical Counseling Words.  

Counsel the Word 

This is the first book/booklet in a series of books call Biblical Word Studies for Biblical Counselors. These words studies are not “heady academic tomes.” These brief booklets with brief chapters are user-friendly studies of vital words that equip us in the personal ministry of the Word.

Practical Ministry Application

Each chapter contains  ministry application questions that I call Homework for Biblical Counselors.

We typically think of homework for the counselee. But in Counsel the Word, you—the counselor—get to enjoy homework assignments at the end of each short chapter.

“Enjoy homework?”

“Yes!”

You’ll have the joy of putting these biblical word studies into practice in your biblical counseling ministry. For example, in Book 1, Parakaleo and Noutheteo, you’ll enjoy 55 application questions (homework assignments). That’s just about one practical ministry or personal life application per page.

My hope is that by the time you have completed reading and applying this booklet, you, too, will say,

“I love biblical words. I love learning and applying biblical words for biblical counseling.”

Why Parakaleo and Noutheteo First? 

I could have started with a word like “counselor” which Isaiah used for the coming Messiah, naming Him the “Wonderful Counselor” (Isaiah 9:6). Or, I could have started with all five words for counseling that Paul uses in 1 Thessalonians 5:14.

“Now we encourage (parakaleo) you, brothers, warn (noutheteo) the disorderly, comfort (paramytheomai) the disheartened, help (antecho) the weak, be patient (makrothumeo) with everyone” (my translation based upon the Greek).

Instead, I chose to start with two vital word groups: parakaleo and noutheteo. Why start with these two words?

Let Me Introduce You to My Two “Friends” 

What’s the significance of parakaleo and noutheteo?

I selected the parakaleo/paraklesis/parakletos word family because of the sheer frequency of their usage in the New Testament. The parakaleo word group is used over 110 times in the New Testament. In the booklet, you’ll learn twenty reasons why Parakaletic Counseling would be a comprehensive name for a biblical counseling model.

Why the noutheteo/nouthesia word family? First, because the apostle Paul uses this word a number of times for his ministry and for the mutual ministry of believers. Second, because Jay Adams launched the modern nouthetic counseling movement based upon this word group.

A Chapter-by-Chapter Summary 

Chapter-by-chapter, here’s a synopsis of what you’ll learn and practically apply as we explore the Bible’s teaching on parakaletic and nouthetic biblical counseling.

Chapter 1: Counseling One Another with the “4E’s” of Parakaleo: Empathize, Encourage, Exhort, Empower

• Comprehensive, compassionate parakaletic biblical counseling helps saints who face suffering and fight against sin through offering them sustaining empathy, healing encouragement, reconciling exhortation, and guiding empowerment/equipping.

Chapter 2: Enjoying the Beauty of the Trinity: Our Wonderful Counselor—Our Parakletos

• As we enjoy the beauty of the Trinity, we find our model and our power for our mutual parakaletic ministry in the parakaletic ministry of the Trinity.

Chapter 3: Parakaletic Counseling: A Comprehensive, Compassionate Biblical Name for Biblical Counseling

• Given the prevalence, priority, and purpose of the parakaleo/paraklesis/parakletos word group, if we had to choose one word to name our counseling, “Parakaletic” would be a comprehensive, compassionate biblical name for biblical counseling.

Chapter 4: The Gospel-Saturated Foundation and Focus of Parakaletic Biblical Counseling

• All aspects of parakaletic ministry are sourced and saturated in the good news of Christ’s gospel of grace: biblical counseling is gospel-centered counseling.

Chapter 5: The Story of Jay Adams and the Launch of the Modern Nouthetic Counseling Movement

• The personal background and history behind Jay Adams’s launch of the modern nouthetic counseling movement is important context as we seek to study and apply noutheteo word group to our practice of the personal ministry of the Word.

Chapter 6: Why Jay Adams Called His Counseling Model “Nouthetic”

• Jay Adams’s approach to nouthetic counseling focuses on nouthetic confrontation out of concern for change.

Chapter 7: Caring, Cautionary Communication to Ward Off Wandering: Noutheteo/Nouthesia

• The noutheteo/nouthesia word group emphasizes instructive communication focused on warning the mind in order to ward off straying from Christ and to remain stayed on Christ.

Chapter 8: Applying the “7C’s” of Nouthetic Ministry: Noutheteo/Nouthesia

• Nouthetic ministry is cautionary, caring, charis (grace-soaked), Christ-saturated, cognitive, contextual-instruction focused on Christlikeness.
• Nouthetic ministry is cautionary instruction.

Chapter 9: The Comparative Significance of the Parakaleo and Noutheteo Word Groups

• Contextual Ministry: Nouthetic ministry is important, especially in the situational context of warnings about wandering. However, it is only one facet in the multifaceted personal ministry of the Word.
• Comprehensive Ministry: Parakaletic ministry, rather than highlighting one aspect of biblical counseling (warning for temptation and sin), expansively emphasizes a full-orbed approach to who we are in Christ as saints who endure suffering and battle sin on our sanctification journey as we minister the Word to one another through empathy, encouragement, exhortation, and empowerment/equipping.

Learn More and Enjoy Your Copy 

You can go directly to the link below at the Association of Biblical Counselor’s store to order your copy:

Parakaleo and Noutheteo: Understanding and Applying Two Richly Practical Biblical Counseling Words.