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

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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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Healing and Scripture

By Lary R. HaleNovember 9, 2013

A diverse group of believers reconciles in prayer under a shared current of Spirit light in an olive courtyard. — © By One Spirit Ministries

"For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit" (I Cor. 12:13). I do not believe that there is any one scripture in the new testament writings that says as much as this scripture, nor could any one scripture be as integral to the healing of the breach that is in the body of Christ today. There is just so much to be realized and understood by the power of this one statement from the apostle Paul. In one sentence we are told how it is that anyone does and must get into the one body of Christ that God has ordained, and for which Jesus suffered and died, that it may exist. To risk seeming overly simplistic, we are plainly told by I Cor. 12:13 that it is the baptism of the holy Ghost that puts me, you, and anyone else who receives it, into God's only congregation of born again believers in the earth! Praise God! What deliverance and freedom is in this profound, straight forward statement of truth! What soundness and solidity! And the flip side of this pivotal scripture says just as much as the scripture itself. That being that unless and until someone receives this glorious spiritual baptism from the hand of Jesus, they simply are not in the body of Christ; or at least not yet. There are only two other scriptures in the new testament writings that tell us definitively how one gets into the body of Christ. Romans 6:3,4 says "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." And it's certain that no one can walk in newness of life in Christ, except by the power of God's Spirit, which only comes through the Spirit baptism (Acts 1:8). And in confirmation of that we are told in II Cor. 5:17, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things have passed away; behold, all things are become new." And in Galatians 3:27,28 we are told, "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." We see the same things written in this passage as in our text scripture, so again we see that the baptism being referred to here is the baptism of the Spirit; not water baptism. And the only way anyone can "put on Christ" is to baptized with the Spirit, for II Cor. 3:17 says, "Now the Lord is that Spirit." So when we receive the Spirit of God into ourselves, we literally put on Christ. You see friend, this Gospel that Jesus died and rose again for is a literal, powerful Gospel; not a symbolic, powerless Gospel (Rom. 1:16; II Tim. 3:5). As these scriptural passages plainly show, the baptism that literally puts us into Christ is the one he had to suffer, die, and raise from the dead for before we could have it: the baptism of the holy Ghost. Now the purpose of this writing is not to deal with the issue of speaking in tongues when one receives the baptism of the Spirit. We have other articles that you can read that deal with that topic. But the reality is that everyone who truly has the baptism of the Spirit, knows that one speaks in tongues upon receiving the experience.

The more integral issue here is that many, even most people who have been baptized with the Spirit, have been taught that one receives the Spirit and is born again before they are baptized with the Spirit with the witness of speaking with other tongues. The common school of thought throughout much of the body of Christ is that one RECEIVES God's Spirit when they "get saved," or "accept the Lord," etc. These things are proclaimed to be the born again experience while the Spirit baptism is considered to be a further empowering of the born again believer's experience. But there are a few problems with this school of thought which quite frankly negate it altogether. First of all there simply is no record in the Bible where anyone ever "got saved" or "accepted the Lord." Secondly we are faced with this insurmountable question: How can someone not be in the body of Christ if they are saved or born again? For we have already seen very plainly that the Spirit baptism is the only way that anyone can get into the body of Christ. The only possible answer to this question friend, is that receiving the Spirit and being baptized with the Spirit with the accompanying witness of speaking in tongues, is one and the same experience. And in Rom. 8:9 we are soberly informed, "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." We are told in I Cor. 6:9 that it is the Spirit that washes us from our sins, sanctifies us, and justifies us in the sight of God. And again, II Cor. 5:17 plainly states that only by being IN CHRIST can we become a "new creature." Now a new creature obviously comes about through a new birth, which new birth Jesus said was about receiving the Spirit of God (Jn. 3:5). And the new birth experience is surely about us receiving the remission of our sins and being thereby sanctified and justified. So again we that it is evident that the baptism of the holy Ghost is absolutely the one and only new birth experience because it is the one and only way into Christ, or the body of Christ; whichever way you prefer to say it. Amen. There is nothing in the Bible that shows that we can be born again and have remission of our sins before or apart from the baptism of the Spirit. This is not to say that we cannot have an experience with the Lord before being baptized with the Spirit. In fact everyone does experience something by faith in Jesus before being baptized with the Spirit, but it's not the new birth. Even as a child is conceived in the womb of a woman before birth takes place, so it is with the new birth process. And even as a baby in the womb has life experiences, such as moving, receiving nutrition, etc.; even so a person who is conceived spiritually also has experiences through faith before the new birth experience. In Jn. 16:21,22 Jesus likened His disciples to a woman ready to give birth, which birth He said would take place after he went away. He also likened them to the child to be born, in the same passage (Jn. 16:7; Acts 1:4,5; Acts 2:4).

The failure to recognize and embrace this simple truth has resulted in manifold division within the congregation of God, and as a result confusion and division has reigned among God's people instead of peace and unity (Eph. 4:3; Col. 3:15). If we call something the born again experience before or apart from the holy Ghost baptism, then we are immediately and invariably thrown into a spiritual state of mass disarray. This enormous doctrinal error has resulted in the worship and service of God among his people to be bogged down and choked immeasurably due to our not even knowing who are brethren and who are not. Our 'fellowship' is crippled because we have to become carnally minded to be joined together with 'brethren' who have not even been baptized by one Spirit into one body. It would be totally different if those who have not received the Spirit were told that they MUST be baptized with the Spirit to have remission of their sins and new birth. And on top of that we see an overwhelming amount of sickness and affliction among God's people due to our weakened spiritual condition resulting from our not truly discerning the body of Christ (I Cor. 11:29,30). Due to this blatant oversight of the scripture, God's people also attribute godly respect to so called ministers who are not even in the body of Christ, and are misled further thereby. And one of the greatest spiritual calamities that has resulted from this confusion of the truth is that many dear children of God have mistakenly married someone who is not truly a member of the body of Christ, and have thereby put themselves under a spiritually unequal yoke (II Cor. 6:14-16). Marrying outside of the faith [the one body] has always been strictly forbidden of God, and has always resulted in spiritual disaster for those who have erred in this manner; whether they realize they have done it or not (Deut. 7:3,4; Ezra 9:10-14; II Cor. 6:14-16; I Cor. 7:39). The ancient prophecy of Hosea sadly fits our state in the body of Christ today: "Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not" (Hos. 7:9). We simply cannot prosper in Christ if we are wrongfully joined together with those who are not in Christ, whether in worship or in marriage. Neither can we prosper if we place godly respect on religious teachers who are not a part of the body of Christ, or are not acknowledging the one body for what it is and who it is. If we can begin to recognize and uphold the truth of the new birth together, then we can begin the road to recovering our unity, and love, and power in God; which things are dependent on our being in one mind and one accord in the one body that we have all been baptized into by the one holy Spirit of God (Jn. 17:22; I Cor. 1:10; etc.). May God have mercy on us all that we might come to that place. Amen.

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In loving memory

Lary R. Hale

November 13, 1954April 21, 2024

Lary smiling with his beloved dog Champ — Lary with Champ

Obituary

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

Remember him