By One Spirit — Holy Ghost Ministry

Lary and his beloved dog Champ welcomed by Jesus into a radiant garden of flowers, waterfalls, and golden light
Remembering the ministry and teachings of Lary R. Hale

Faith carried forward

By One Spirit is a lasting home for Holy Ghost ministry, preserving the teachings of Lary R. Hale and the memories of the people whose lives he touched.

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From the ministry archive

Look For the Heart

An older woman gently encourages a young embroiderer in a sunlit room.
© By One Spirit Ministries

Just a few words today about how God wants us to look at people. Someone I know said something to me several years ago that just gets bigger all the time. He told me, “Bro. Lary some people are looking for more reasons for people to be lost than they are for them to be saved.” Honestly I don’t think I have ever heard truer, or wiser words spoken. So what is so big about this saying? Plain and simple, the lack of any condemning spirit. I understand and love the spiritual reality that only “the pure in heart shall see God” (Mat. 3:5). And I reverence the saying with all love of holiness that says, “Follow peace with all men, AND holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). I also love the sobering admonitions throughout the Bible, very much including the new testament, that emphasize without compromise that “the wages of sin is death;” which admonition is most assuredly for born again believers (Rom. 6:23). Here’s a stellar example: “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened , and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away , to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame” (Heb. 6:4-6). Feel the fear of God in that one? I sure do. So I’ve established the fact that I’m not preaching a cotton candy Gospel where everybody who dies that claimed faith in Christ, goes on to glory as it were. But please allow me to say this: God is by all means looking for EVERY POSSIBLE REASON for people to be saved, as well as EVERY reason for people to NOT be lost! If we truly have the mind of Christ we are naturally going to do the same. It is manifest throughout the scriptures that “man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart” (I Sam. 16:7).

Now what I’m getting to here is this: If we are walking in God’s love we are going to look at someone’s heart the best we can, and that means looking past their flaws. Looking on the outward appearance very much includes focusing on the apparent flaws that people have in their lives, their manner, their doings, etc. The love of God and the mind of Christ in a person looks past the faulty ways of someone and seeks to find the good about their heart and their motives, and it isn’t straining to do so. A lot of folks are doing a whole lot wrong but are meaning to do a whole lot right, and in many cases are doing that as well. I know people whose flaws are so glaring and so annoying that if one doesn’t possess the love of God with the mind of Christ, there simply is no way under the sun to find a whole lot of good about them or want to be around them. Not because it’s not there to find, but because man naturally looks at the outward appearance and isn’t looking for the good that is in the heart like God is. Some of these folks are some of God’s very finest, and those whom he considers some of his most precious jewels. I just absolutely love how God crosses my path with precious souls who most religious people would consider just too much trouble to deal with, and too far gone to waste time on. I personally esteem these well meaning souls to be better than myself, and count it a privilege to be in their company (Philip. 2:3). I have many who have expressed so much appreciation for the time, and love, and patience that I have spent on them; but they have no idea what a help and blessing they have been to me, and how much they have forwarded my growth in the Lord. I do let them know this of course, and express my appreciation to them likewise. In any event it is simply the love and grace of God that places any of us in these kinds of situations, and when it’s all said and done we need each other greatly, regardless of where we’re at spiritually, or who’s doing the helping and who’s doing the receiving. In other words we’re all the same if our hearts are toward God, regardless of where our apparent conditions seem to say we’re at.

I just can’t tell you how much I love the feel of seeing people this way and dealing with them as such. Nor can I rightly express how thankful I am that Jesus has made me able to look at people the way he looks at people. All I really care to see is the potential that someone has and the gifts that God has placed in them, and make it my business to bring those things out in them so that they can have the joy and productiveness that the Lord wants them to live in. Yes I know that some folks hearts are not toward God, but I also know that Jesus died for them so that they can be redeemed from that state. And no I can’t reach everybody with the love of God, but I need to be certain that it wasn’t for lack of wanting to. Far too many people have been far too conditioned to focus on the evident flaws that most people are going to exhibit, and the love of God never gets the opportunity to flow through them and allow them to see and feel where a lot of folks are really at in their hearts. That reminds me of another of the wisest and most powerful sayings that I’ve ever been told, and in fact it was by the father of the man who told me the other one. He simply said, “Bro. Lary, nobody really knows where you’re at except for the Lord.” Too simplistic for you? I have learned, and learned, and learned some more from that saying; and that over a period of more than thirty years. I’ve learned about myself and I’ve learned about others, but most of all I’ve learned about the good will and mercy of God from that saying; as is the case with the other. All I can say is that I’m certainly glad that God was looking, and has looked on my heart since I’ve been in this life, because if he would have been looking at my failures and flaws I would have been in a lot of trouble from the outset. So be comforted my friend, that if you want what is right, and you want to be what is right, God is going to make the way for you to get there, and for you to be saved in the end. If you have been focused on people’s flaws, and not enough on their potential and their heart, then remember the saying of the apostle Paul, who told us, “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come , who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts” (I Cor. 4:5). Oh yeah, I might add that Jesus can redeem anyone from that flaw too. Isn’t God good?!! :)

From the Preserved Writings of Lary R. Hale

By One Spirit · Media library

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Jesus Is All

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Selected Broadcast 50: Jesus Is All

In loving memory

Lary R. Hale

Lary smiling with his beloved dog Champ
Lary with Champ

A Hero Finally Rests.

Lary Redman Hale of Louisville, KY entered into his greatest joy, the presence of King Jesus himself, welcomed by the cheers of angels and the saints of God on Sunday night, April 21, 2024.

What the outside world would see as the untimely passing of a humble, local minister, heaven saw as the triumphant finale of a valiant warrior's life. He fought the good fight, having kept the faith, and received what Christ himself called "The Champion's Wreath of Victory".

Lary was born November 13, 1954 to Marvin and Norma Hale. Being the youngest of his siblings ensured he had lots of time with his loving mother, from whom he undoubtedly developed his profound sensitivity, heartfelt sentimentality and emotional comfortability - characteristics that were trademarks of his life. He grew up surrounded by cousins and classmates that became his best friends.

At his 50 year class reunion he was overjoyed and excited to catch up with so many of them, smiling and laughing more than he had in a long time. He would often tell stories of how he treasured those times as a young boy riding bikes, shooting B.B guns and playing with his childhood dog Peanuts; all while getting into assorted harmless mischief. He cherished the time he spent living on his parents houseboat and helping his dad, a united states marine veteran, take care of the boat and dock.

His relationship with his dad was only strengthened in their later years as they watched boxing matches almost every weekend for the remainder of his dad's life. He admired his brother Gary for his athleticism and industrious attitude, and thought his sisters Vicki and Mila had hearts of gold just like his mother. In his teen years Lary developed three of his lifelong loves: swimming, cool cars and lifting weights.

Some people said Lary was part fish because of how well he swam, but Lary would correct them, he was actually part dolphin. As a young man he managed a health club where he helped multiple people lose weight and counted that a huge joy. He loved nature and taking photos of it, honing his skills and knowledge in cameras. His vocabulary was second to none and he enjoyed learning new words and using them especially in his writings.

Before he passed he still exercised as much as his body would allow and he longed to return to the ocean and the white sands of Destin, Florida.

Like most disenfranchised teens in the early 70s, Lary indulged in countless vices that left him empty and searching for more. Although his long black curly hair, loud clothes, muscles and muscle cars made him the envy of the boys and the heartthrob of the girls, none of these things satisfied his heart. He pursued a college education briefly, desiring to be a marine biologist or philosopher but found that this was not what he was missing either - he longed for true fulfillment.

Depressed, empty, and feeling hopeless, Lary heard about a particular beautiful girl he had a crush on that was attending a small church where the "Spirit of God" was changing people's lives. After wondering why someone like her would attend a church like that, he began to attend also.

After a few months, he made a simple prayer on his hands and knees, saying "God I can't stop smoking, drinking, raging or any of the other countless vices I have - but if you can set me free from these things, I'll know you're real and that you want me to serve you". The next morning Lary woke up and described the next few hours as "walking on air" realizing he was, in his words "delivered" and never going back to those vices.

This began his life long commitment to glorifying Jesus, the king of glory, for how he transformed Lary's life from darkness to light. Lary would marry that same beautiful girl, the love of his life, Fay Kustes, and they would have two sons together, Benjamin Isaac and Elisha Daniel. Lary's greatest joy in life was being a husband and father.

He was happiest when he was sharing what he was learning in the bible with his family, and teaching them that knowing God was simplistic and yet powerful - that God was not merely a religious concept, but a powerful savior on a day to day basis. As Lary made it his life's goal to find "the lost sheep", he would tap into his multifaceted creativity that went largely underappreciated.

Lary produced well over a thousand episodes of gospel presentations: self-producing, mixing, editing and encoding both a radio and television show. Between the two, he broadcast for over 30 years. All of this in the analog age, where self produced radio and TV shows were nearly unheard of, especially without any budget whatsoever.

Lary was an evangelist in Louisville and southern Indiana, being asked to preach and teach in multicultural and multi-generational churches across the city. The churches he was most loved and welcomed by were the African-American Baptist and Pentecostal churches that loved and welcomed his passionate, excitable and action packed style of preaching.

Once the dawn of the internet came, he immediately worked to have a website published, making his literature and gospel teachings available. Eventually he'd use social media to teach, preach and encourage believers all across the world. He would spend every night praying with and encouraging christians from every nation until the end of his life. Many of which saw him like a second father and all of whom greatly mourn his passing.

Even though he produced over a thousand episodes of media, taught in multiple churches, mentored in multiple countries, and had multiple printed works of literature, he considered his greatest life's work to be his two sons. One of their earliest memories is Lary saying "the most important job in the world is not preaching the gospel, it's raising kids in the gospel". This threaded through his entire life.

In his final week on earth, he reminisced on his life saying "I see my life as the highest success, because my life's work are my two sons, who I am so incredibly proud of - not for their natural achievements but for their love, humility and personal faith in Jesus that is not only evident in their lives but also in their love. Because of them, I know my life is a true success - and I credit Jesus for all of it".

His sons today see him as the most successful man they will ever know. He succeeded in loving them and never hurting them. Leading them and never controlling them. Being there for them and never leaving them. He was a man that would apologize quickly, forgive quickly, and always encouraged his sons to "get up and go from here". He succeeded in teaching them faith, hope and love in a world starving so badly for all three. His ministry lives on in them.

The lives of everyone touched by their lives are forever indebted to this humble, prayerful man of faith.

He is preceded in death by his father Marvin, mother Norma, sister Mila, sister-in-law Marlene, nephew Adam, aunts, uncles, treasured cousins, and his beloved dog of 18 years, Champ.

Until they are reunited in the glory of heaven, he is survived and will be missed by his sons, Benjamin and Elisha (Katrine), his wife of 30 years, Fay, his brother Gary, His sister Vicki (Dan), his cousins, nieces, nephews, his friends, and those that called him their pastor and teacher.

"The righteous perish, and no man lays it to heart: merciful men are taken away and no one considers that the righteous person is being spared from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace: he shall rest in his bed, having walked in uprightness." Isaiah 57:1&2

A life in pictures and film

Watch the tribute video shared with Lary’s obituary. It brings together moments from his life and footage of the man so many loved.

Video hosted by Tribute Slides through Newcomer Kentuckiana.

Original obituary at Newcomer Kentuckiana

Memories of Lary