Review of Same Kind Of Diffrent as me

Same Kind of different As me
• Genre: Biography story
• Author: Ron Hall & Denver Moore
• Overall rating: 7.5 of 10
• How I heard about it: Booksneeze.com
• Suggested Audience : Christians above the age of 10 that are in the mood for a motivational read about how God can work through anyone.

Wow! When I first got this book I was not thinking I was going to like it. First of all it was a story that did not involve war or missions in other countries. But rather this story was based right here in America about a homeless black man and a rich art dealer. Now I am no fan of art usually and I also usually don’t read this type of book, Most of the Biographies I read involve famous missionaries or marine war heroes. But fulfilling my commitment to read and evaluate this book I opened the cover with an open mind, and yes, I think this one might make my top 25 list after all.
Let’s get the Critiques out of the way first before we start talking about the really good parts of it. The format is a little tough to follow at first. When one opens up the cover and begins in the first chapter the reader meets Denver a young black boy in Louisiana living on a plantation and he talking like a slave. What I mean by that is proper grammar is out the window, words are intentionally spelled wrong and some slang terms are used, which is exactly how a share cropper from the 1960’s would talk but it does serve as a bit of a distraction. This is coming from the little boy that cursed the grammar rules from the time he learned them but this went a little overboard. Next the book uses the word “nigger” several times. Right or wrong it was the life that Denver Moore knew; he was a called that by “da man” from the moment he was born. The word while a bit uncomfortable for a modern well to do white man to read repeatedly dose do a number to bring one back to a time and place where that was what blacks were called and illustrates why that word has come to mean what it has. The final critique I have for this piece was more of what can be considered a formatting flaw. There are a LOT! of chapters. The book ends on page 235 at the end of chapter 67!! Do the math that’s an average of less than 4 pages a chapter and there were a lot of page breaks because of the chapter ending. Many chapters were literally a page and a half and chapter 21 is barely that. It seems like a dumb critique for a book but it really did get a little annoying the book probably could have been about 170 pages if it weren’t for all the page breaks and spacing from the numerous chapters. In comparison the Book “Against All Odds” is 216 pages and has a mere 13 chapters.
Alright now to the book…wow for being completely out of my normal genre I was thoroughly impressed. Denver grew up as previously stated on a plantation and participated in a practice known as share cropping basically a legal form of slavery that went on in the United States as late as the 1970s. Shocker right? But the details of Denver Moore’s early life are literally that horrific and the word poverty seems like an understatement. Small shacks with no windows, outhouses working all day and all night on the farm and always being in debt to “da man” they were technically paid for their work but they were often paid in store credits and were charged for their houses and it usually left them in debt to their employer. It was defiantly a tough life but from Denver’s prospective it was all he had ever known and his attitude towards life is remarkably positive throughout the whole thing.
Next we meet Ron Hall as a college student his life quickly takes off, the opposite direction Denver’s life starts heading. Ron meets a lovely wife and gets a job as an investment banker shortly after college he finds that he has a real eye for art and begins to earn a little extra money on the side consigning art works to galleries and private buyers.
So how the lives of this millionaire and homeless bum finally meet is an act of sheer provenance but after several big life decisions from both parties they eventually meet at a homeless mission in downtown Fort Worth. The ensuing story is one of persistence and prayer that God uses both men to influence his kingdom in a huge way. After the ice in Denver and Ron’s relationship is finally broken they face another major Problem Ron’s wife of nearly 30 years is diagnosed with colon cancer the rest of the book is incredible, near tear jerking account of a hard fought battle with cancer in which God is glorified in so many ways in the end.
The book was very impressive overall. First of all it did not come from career authors just 2 normal men telling their stories to anyone that will listen. Second it truly is an inspiring story, but it is not a super human story about God asking some incredibly driven individual to perform some outlandish dangerous task in a foreign country. I love those stories in their own rank. This is a much more normal story that takes place right here in the US and most people can see how God can use you no matter where you are or what situation you find yourself in.

Life Update from the last 3 months.

So it has been like forever since I posted anything to the Folks at Booksneez.com My dearest Apologies I am by no means ignoring you I just finished the book you sent me and a review will be soon to follow. My email address was lost this summer while I was at OCS (another Blog Post in itself) and all of my internet affairs attached to serveandvolley101@cox.net now must cease and I have to start over. I have been considering new addresses names and debating getting a g-mail account the people here at BlogSpot I’m sure would greatly appreciate that but I believe Google has enough of my internet lifw without running another e-mail account for those of you wishing to reach me now my school address would probably be best. Cdfoy3428@northgeorgia.edu . So I will be posting this blog to let everyone know the short story of the last three to four months of my life.
I will start where I left off last time. I left for United States Marine Corps Officer Candidate School the first week in July planning on graduating 6 weeks later on August 21st I was picked up in the Atlanta airport around midnight on August 15th. Yea I was kicked out, it’s hard to tell the story of the events of OCS without making any excuses. I don’t believe it was a just dismissal from a program I thought I was doing relatively well especially towards the end of the program all the physical events I passed and the academic events I did good on with the exception of one history test I failed by one question and majorly aced the remedial version I had to take before liberty started on Saturday. That being said I defiantly made some major mistakes while I was there as far as things I said and things I did. I was over confident and believed that this was what I was made to do. I also did and said some things that I outright knew better than. I knew it was a game and they were trying to play me and for some reason I let them make me feel inferior and question my integrity. Looking back it seems so obvious I gave them ammunition to use against me and didn’t realize they were taking the very things I told them bothered me and forcing it all on me at once. I made the mistake of actually confiding in the Platoon staff and letting them know what I was going through, I was thinking they were there to train me and help me learn to become a Marine Officer and would let my guard down around the Platoon Commander and actually tell him what I was thinking during said situations and then all the stuff I told him behind closed doors was being screamed back at me by Sergeant Instructors from other platoons. I for some reason didn’t catch it until I was already on my way out.
So on August 17th I showed up at north Georgia College and State University and my life took several drastic turns and fundamental differences. I took off one of the best looking uniforms to grace the face of God’s green earth the MARPAT Camies, to dawn the Velcro incrusted universal patterned Army Combat Uniform (ACU) A uniform I have been taught to make fun of my entire life and even more so over the last 5 weeks of my life. I showed up incredibly exhausted both mentally and physically as well as incredibly discouraged that I had massively failed probably one of my biggest life goals. I was (and am) also incredibly determined to fight and claw my way back in to OCS cause I still just have and incredible desire to be a commissioned officer in the United States Marine Corps.
North Georgia was an entirely different animal I still practice a somewhat military lifestyle but beside the army being different from the Marines the Corps of Cadets is different from the Military, for one everyone in the corps does not plan on commissioning and there are a lot of people in the Corps for money reasons cause its cheaper. It also is a little humbling to be a technical freshman with no rank in the Corps being told what to do by power hungry 19 year olds that often make freshman do things not for any particular purpose but just because they can! It really has not been that bad though I truly like it here and the sophomore NCO’s cool down and have some conversations with you after a few weeks. Classes are going well and I Have made several friends. I have gotten involved with the Chaplin Corps as well as joined another unit on campus North Georgia’s famous Drill team the Blue Ridge Rifles named after a rebel unit supplied to the confederacy from the city of Dahlonega in 8161. It’s a lot of work but they are one of the best Drill teams in the nation. The PT here is good I mean it keeps you active and in shape 7 AM on MWF its not super intense but it serves one of the main reasons I decided to come here was I thought the Corps would keep me in shape for the Marines and I believe it is doing that. I will have to beginning training a little harder here in the next month or two if I am to return to OCS this summer and be anywhere as good as I was last summer but, all in due time.
So life is good God is still working in me, and sometimes believe it or not through me! Crazy Spiritual things are happening on this campus I have meet such Spiritual heavyweights since I have been Here Josh Middleton, John Kishamoto, Laura Simpson, and so many others that God is doing ministry on this campus. I am so excited to see what the next 2 years encompass and wonder where I will be in 3 more semesters when I finally earn a bachelors degree.