THE PEACEGIVER: How Christ Offers to Heal Our Hearts and Homes

Rick is a believer in Christ and father of four, but his marriage is locked in a miserable death spiral of petty arguments and wounded pride. Rick is crushed with self-pity and resentment toward his wife when his deceased grandfather begins visiting him in dreams in an effort to bring him to the peace and forgiveness promised by Christ. This homiletic storytelling in a nonfiction book may not work for everyone—the grandfather uses a patient Socratic approach to bring Rick along to enlightenment, and some readers may get bored as they race ahead of Rick's gradual realizations—but the sermon embedded in the tale is terrific. Ferrell offers powerful interpretations of two Old Testament stories: the relatively obscure encounter between David and Abigail (wife of Nabal) that takes place in 1 Samuel, and the better-known story of Jonah and Ninevah. In both, Ferrell finds archetypes of Christ and evidence of how the atonement is designed to make it as easy as possible for us to forgive others and thereby attain our own peace and salvation. The genius of this little book is to weave biblical insights back into the story of modern-day Rick and his wife—to show how moments of forgiveness not only stay life-and-death battles, but also the daily battles that lead to bitter estrangements of loved ones. Both the protagonist and the author are LDS (Mormon), but the book is easily accessible to anyone seeking insights to the core Christian doctrine of the atonement. (Mar.)