Book Review - Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore

Review submitted by Nita McFarlin

The main character in this true story is God. He directs the lives of Ron and Denver to do His will and to be more than they ever could be on their own. In fact, Denver says there was something he learned when he was homeless: "Our limitation is God's opportunity. When you get all the way to the end of your rope and there ain't nothin' you can do, that's when God takes over."

Denver never went to school, he picked cotton as a sharecropper in backward Louisiana, he never earned a day's pay, and he was mistreated because he was a black man. God directed him to Fort Worth to a mission where he would find freedom. Ron, a white man, met his future wife, Deborah, while he was in school at TCU. They married after his military service.

Deborah gets Ron to go with her to work at the Union Gospel Mission, but only on Tuesdays to help with the evening feeding. He is reluctant, but he wants to make his wife happy, so . . . he goes. And gets hooked.

Deborah has a dream about the mission being filled with flowers. She also dreams about a man; she sees his face. She says that he was a "wise man who changes the city like the verse in Ecclesiastes." This man turns up at the mission and she recognizes him. Her gentle love and her husband's kindness win over the homeless man nobody wants to befriend. Denver is a really dangerous loner when Deborah and Ron come into his life with God leading them into uncharted territory.

I loved the simple yet profound truths that Denver speaks about God. When someone we love is so sick and near death, we pray for healing and renewal. But, Denver said that we ain't going nowhere until our work on earth is through. He also talked about a set of keys that God has given to each person on earth. The keys are used to live life down here and there is one key you can use to unlock prison doors and set captives free.

These two remarkable men spoke at one of the Martin Luther King events this year in Arlington. I took my book and had them sign on the flyleaf. I was able to speak to both of them, and to see some of Denver's art work. My paperback book will be donated to our church library. Please sign the inside cover after you have read it. May we use the gifts God has given us to fulfill his purpose for us. Who can imagine what great things God will do with us if we use our "keys"?

Thank you, Nita, for your book review and your generous donation to our church library. I have read the book as well as was moved to tears a number of times at the incredible way God worked in the lives of these men.

If anyone else has read a great book and would like to share your thoughts with us, please don't hesitate to let me know! Thanks again, Nita.