Even with all of the unpacking craziness, I managed to read two books in a couple of days. And it's because I couldn't put them down. You need to read these books.
The books are written by Ron Hall and Denver Moore with Lynn Vincent. It's a true story of the unlikely friendship between Ron and Denver. Ron is a (very) wealthy Texas art dealer. Denver is a former modern day slave/homeless man. Their friendship forms the foundation of the story but it's much more than just "rich guy changes the life of a homeless guy". It's honest and raw. There is tragedy and misunderstandings. There is an authenticity to their story about race and faith, death and love, community and social justice.
One of my issues with most books marketed as "Christian" is that they tend to deal with perfect people. They are written by perfect people and the biggest problems they have are how to deal with mean people. But with Denver and Ron, they are honest about even their own failings and prejudices. They don't seem interested in coming off as having it all together.
Then "What Difference Do it Make?" is a follow-up, meant to fill in the gaps, answer questions that were generated and share how their story has travelled further than they ever expected. I can be rather skeptical about sequels but this was just as fascinating.
I found the passages by Ron about his relationship with his father in particular riveting, conflicted and full of love.
But what I most appreciated about these books is that they didn't stop there. They challenged me about my own prejudices, my own thoughts, my own pursuit of community, friendship and even social justice.
Is it really helping when you show up to dish up a Christmas meal once a year? Or are we willing to have friendship? They mentioned one idea: What if every community of believers/church would embrace one homeless person - for life?
(I purchased "Same Kind of Different" myself. I received "What Difference Do It Make?" from the publisher for a review but there was no compensation.)
