Church meeting devotions: Same Kind of Different As Me

It’s one of the best books that I’ve ever read in my life. Even my wife Evelyn, who devours books avidly, was amazed at how quickly I finished this book. Usually, because of my biblical training, I scour each sentence and paragraph for deep and significant meaning. That means it takes me a long time to finish a book. But this one had me so enthralled that I just couldn’t put it down.

The book is called “Same Kind of Different As Me,” and it was written collectively by Ron Hall and Denver Moore, along with Lynn Vincent. It’s a true story about how a young Louisiana sharecropper, who is shamefully mistreated like a modern-day slave, runs away to Texas to escape from poverty, only to end up homeless on the streets of Fort Worth. Decades later, he is befriended by an international art dealer, whose wife wants to seriously help the homeless in her town. She has a vision that one day a homeless man will captivate the entire community, and pave the way for a new mission to be established in Fort Worth.

The story deals with all kinds of issues of class, race, and inhumanity, as well as battles against injustice, poverty, and cancer. Throughout the unfolding of the story, I found myself inwardly laughing and crying, smiling and weeping as the lives and faith journeys of the three main characters intertwined.

It’s an incredible story of friendship, hope, and enduring love. For anyone who wants to know if God still works wonders in today’s world, this is a must read. It’s almost like a modern re-telling of the story of Joseph from the Old Testament. It profoundly affected me and has dramatically changed some of my misconceptions about who homeless people are, and how they should be respected.

I also loved the way this book was written. It has very short chapters and the two leading characters express their journey of faith side by side. Their backgrounds are as different as they could ever be, which makes their encounters more poignant. This is an adventure story about life, faith, and eternal life. When I finished the book, I just thanked God for allowing me to read such a beautiful true story.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we thank You for the beautiful stories of faith that still exist in our world today. We praise You that God still works wonders amongst us, through the presence of Your Spirit and the power of Your grace. May our own lives become stories of inspiration, faith, and encouragement to our families and friends. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

If you want to check out the book for yourself, just click the following link:
Same Kind of Different As Me. Or check out the amazon.com advert below.