Book Review: Same Kind of Different As Me

"Same Kind of Different as Me" by Ron Hall and Denver Moore is a true story of redemption, love, and grace.

Overview: A dangerous, homeless drifter who grew up picking cotton in virtual slavery. An upscale art dealer accustomed to the world of Armani and Chanel. A gutsy woman with a stubborn dream. A story so incredible no novelist would dare dream it.

It begins outside a burning plantation hut in Louisiana…and an East Texas honky-tonk…and, without a doubt, in the heart of God. It unfolds in a Hollywood hacienda…an upscale New York gallery…a downtown dumpster…a Texas ranch.
Gritty with pain and betrayal and brutality, this true story also shines with an unexpected, life-changing love.

Dawn's Recommendation: 5 of 5 Stars

What I Liked: This reads like a GREAT fiction book, but it is true story! You get so caught up in the story, you forget it is real-life! You can almost hear Denver's southern voice coming off the page. Chapters flip back and forth between Denver and Ron, but it is easy to follow. I read it in only two days. I just couldn't put it down!

The most amazing thing about this story is Deborah Hall, wife of Ron. Because of her love for Christ and her growing faith, she forgave her husband, began working with the homeless, heard from God, and stepped out in faith.  Because of her love and her actions, lives were transformed for Christ.

Not only is this a fantastic story, it inspires me to be like Deborah (Miss Debbie), a woman of faith, prayer, and action!

Who do you know that is like Deborah, who follows Jesus like her? 
 

A to Z Devotion: L is for Live

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"As for the proud one, his soul is not right in him. But the one who is right and good will live by his faith." Habakkuk 2:4 (NLV)

What does it mean to "live by faith"? 

For me, it means living for God and under his authority and power. It means relying on Him for everything, in surrender and humility. It means stepping out in faith to do things I am afraid to do, but that God would like.

In The Book of Numbers it says that Moses was a humble man, that he was more humble than anyone else on earth and that because of that, God spoke to him face-to-face, not like to a prophet through visions and dreams, but face-to-face. Because of his humility, he lived by faith.

I want to live by faith. I want to trust in God to accomplishing great things through me. 

Francis Chan says that living by faith is stepping out of your comfort zone to allow God to work. He tells of a time in college where he went on the streets and started talking to people about God and how that was way out of his comfort zone. He says that those were some of the best memories of his life.

Do you want to live by faith? What's one thing you could do that would put you out of your comfort zone, so you could totally rely on God to work through you? It could be something small, like visiting a neighbor you don't know well.

A to Z Devotion: C is for Confidence

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"For the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught." Proverbs 3:26

Our youth pastor shared this story from his childhood church camp days. He saw a squirrel running and jumping from tree to tree and he thought, "What makes the squirrel so confident? Does it know that God made it to jump? Is that why it's not afraid to do what it was made to do?" Then he thought, "Where do I get my confidence from? Why don't I live the life God created me to live with confidence?"

Does this story speak to you about self-confidence vs. God-confidence? How? Is there a time when you were nudged by God to step out in faith?