444 of 480 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Better Than Fiction, May 3, 2007
At a recent conference I met a gentleman who happens to edit one of those airline magazines that always competes with your legroom in an airplane. A short time ago he sent me an email and asked if I had heard of a book called Same Kind of Different as Me and recommended that I read it. He seemed like a good enough guy and the book had a great cover, so I went ahead and ordered it sight unseen (or nearly so). And what a book it turned out to be.
Same Kind of Different as Me, a book that is factual but could just as easily be fiction, tells the unlikely story of the unlikeliest of friends--Ron Hall and Denver Moore. Told in two voices, the book alternates between telling the story from the perspective of Ron and Denver.
Ron Hall is a wealthy international art dealer who travels the world buying and selling rare and expensive works of art. He has grown rich but has also grown selfish and has grown away from his family. When Ron Hall reluctantly volunteers at a homeless shelter (at the insistence of his wife) he soon comes into contact with Denver, a man his wife is convinced is going to change the city. Denver grew up as a sharecropper in Louisiana, living a life that seemed little different from the life of his ancestors one hundreds years before. He eventually walked away from the cotton fields and found that, while life on the streets of Fort Worth was difficult, it was easier than being a sharecropper. It was here, in a homeless shelter, that the two men met, one serving food and the other being a reluctant recipient of this charity.
Chef Jim and Deborah chatted easily while I mentally balanced the ledger between pleasing my wife and contracting a terminal disease. I had to admit that his idea seemed like an easy way to start--serve the evening meal once a week, and we'd be in and out in three, four hours max. We could minister from behind the rusty steel serving counter, safely separated from the customers. And we could enter and leave through the rear kitchen door, thereby minimizing contact with those likely to hit us up for money. The whole arrangement seemed like a good way for us to fulfill Deborah's desire to help the homeless without our touching them or letting them touch us.
Her bright laugh pulled my attention back into the room. "I think that sounds great, Jim!" she was saying. "I don't see any reason why we can't start tomorrow. In fact, let's just say you can count on us to serve every Tuesday until you hear otherwise."
"Praise the Lord!" Chef Jim said, this time giving Deborah a great big Baptist hug. It did not sound great to me, but Deborah had not asked me what I thought. She never did do much by committee.
At first unable to crack Denver's stony personality, Hall eventually prevails and strikes up a friendship with a man worlds apart. They become fast friends who endure a tragedy together and who soon grow in their love, respect and admiration of each other. Each man teaches the other about life and faith. Somehow the story of the relationship between these two men is fascinating and inspiring. It offers a glimpse into two worlds that are nearly opposite and shows what happens when these worlds come into contact with each other. I can still hardly believe this was not a novel.
While the book showcases a fun sense of humor, there is also plenty of heart.
And yet for all the courage I knew she had, she had shown this glimmer of fear. Oh, how I loved her then. Fiercely. The passion you feel down in your guts where no one else can see and only you know its frightening force. I could remember that there were times in our nearly three decades of marriage that I had loved her less than at that moment, and guilt pierced me like a spike. Though she had always given unconditionally, I had often not been willing to do so in return, She has deserved better than she's gotten from me, I thought, and nearly drowned in a wave of regret thirty years deep.
Between the heart and the humor is some good theology, but, unfortunately, also some that would require believing the word of the author rather than finding any basis in Scripture. For example, there is talk of a "visitation" where a dead person returns to earth, however briefly, to offer comfort and encouragement. This is not something the Bible tells us we can or should expect. There was also some theology that was suspicious and seemed to reveal an understanding of the gospel that was somewhat incomplete. I found these distracting and disappointing, but not fatal to the book.
So while Same Kind of Different as Me is not necessarily a book I'd recommend for its theology, it is a book that I'd recommend for a stirring and unforgettable story, and for the pure joy of reading it. This one caught me by surprise and I enjoyed every minute of it. I can pretty well guarantee that someone will buy the movie rights to this story, so why not buy it now so you can say that you read the book before you ever heard of the movie!
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167 of 178 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing, August 2, 2006
I finished this book in less than 3 days. I was taken in by chapter 2 and laughed, cried, pondered, and repented the whole way through. It is well written and easy to digest yet full of hidden treasures.
I like that this book challenges those of us who consider ourselves Christian - that we usually aren't as real as we say and certainly rarely have actions that are as revolutionary as Jesus paved the way for.
Both authors are honest in their struggles with themselves, their histories, weaknesses and the strength found in their purpose together.
I most admire that they consider making a difference in one life, and the difference one life can make, important.
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110 of 119 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is one of the two most powerful books I have read in my lifetime., November 3, 2006
A friend gave me this book and told me it would "change my life" but I had no idea to what extent!
Having been raised in Fort Wotth, as a young girl, I can remember going to the Union Gospel Mission to help with services for the homeless. They had to attend a service in order to enjoy a free meal. I remember it as being one of the dirtiest, stinkiest and scariest places I had ever seen.
This book takes place at that very mission. It is the true, but almost unbelievable story of three very different people whose lives come together in a way that can only be explained as "God ordained". The things that happen in the lives of these three people are so amazing that you will not be able to put the book down. I have a new love and appreciation for the Union Gospel Mission. It has now become a beautiful place to me...an annointed place where needy people can find food, shelter, love and then come face to face with Jesus.
You will be challenged to look at life differently. I will never be the same since reading this book. I have a new empathy for the underpriveleged in this country. I have a new desire to spend time with the Lord.
This is a book that needs to be read by the masses. I began praying immediately that someone who had the means would make a movie of this story. I have since talked with Ron Hall and it seems that a movie may be in the future.
Denver Moore, the homeless man in the book may be used by God as one of His most faithful messengers of the truth for our time.
Grab a cup of coffee, find a comfortable chair and begin reading. You will be there all night or until you finish it. Grab a box of kleenex, too. You will need it!
You will then want to buy it for everyone you know for Christmas!
Get ready to be changed!!!!
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