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

Grace and Righteousness

A man leaves a broken chain behind and helps an elderly neighbor while others share food, showing grace expressed in a changed life.
© By One Spirit Ministries

I often have these modern 'grace' zealots challenge me on the issue of true holiness which I preach, and the bottom line is always the same. In fact the bottom line is always the same on ALL issues pertaining to the Gospel of Christ, and that is that true doctrine points the way to eliminate sin from the lives of believers; whereas false doctrine makes allowance for and justifies sin in one's life. One individual a while back wanted me to give him some scriptures to support the reality of literally getting sin out of our lives. I gave him some, and then after blowing a bunch of hollow theological smoke on the issue he wanted me to give him more. He didn't get any more because he didn't believe the ones that I gave him to begin with. But he could have just read the entire new testament of the Bible, and it is quite evident that the grace of God is for GETTING RID of sin, NOT for justifying it! How about this one: "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" Now this guy's answer, and the 'Christian' answer to that question is, HECK YEAH! But somebody must have overlooked the APOSTLE'S answer to the question: "GOD FORBID. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" (Rom. 6:1,2). That's pretty easy math, don't you think? As in one plus one equals two. But if that isn't enough, let's take another look AT THE BIBLE: "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, RIGHTEOUSLY, and GODLY, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us FROM ALL INIQUITY, and PURIFY unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Tit. 2:11-14). Come on now friend, that's as plain as the nose on your face. God isn't a sinner, so living "godly" doesn't include continuing in sin. And "purify" means just that, PUREify. 'Pure' means unmixed, and I'm thinking that in this case it means the righteousness of God in us unmixed with sin, not vice versa.

The beloved apostle seemed to agree with this thinking too, even to the point of saying that anything otherwise would not merit salvation, which is to say the resurrection of the dead: "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And EVERY man that hath this hope in him PURIFIETH himself, even as HE is pure" (I Jn. 3:2,3). God is clearly in agreement with these things himself, as he has repeatedly said to those who would serve him, "Be ye holy; for I am holy" (I Pet. 1:16). Jesus was certainly on board with this mindset of believers being literally made pure from sin, and he was also on board with John about those being the only people who would be saved: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for THEY shall see God" (Mat. 5:8). You can figure out the flip side of that saying for yourself. All of these things are EXTRAORDINARILY easy to see, UNLESS you are wanting to hold on to sin, and are not willing to "suffer in the flesh, [and] CEASE from sin;" as the apostle Peter said we must do (I Pet. 4:1). Then I had another guy a couple of weeks ago trying to impose this 'salvation by grace [sin included]' doctrine on me. His testimony was that I SIN when someone pulls out in front of me in traffic, and that I LUST AFTER every attractive woman that I see. Funny, but he's never been with me in the car, and he couldn't say WHO I've lusted after, or when. No, that was HIS TESTIMONY, and he was trying to MAKE it mine also, SO THAT he could feel justified in his continuance with sin. In fact that is NOT my testimony at all. MY TESTIMONY is that I am truly "redeemed from ALL iniquity," as the scripture states, and that I am "purifying [myself], even as he is pure;" as the scripture says again. It's funny how every false doctrine gets sucked into the void of futility when someone starts reading the Bible, believing what it says, AND BELIEVING GOD to the point of making it happen in their life! I asked this man, "What sin do you convince me of?" In other words, beside unfounded claims about me, what wickedness of mine could he actually document? His answer was that I am guilty of lying, because I said I am not continuing in sin. Well, how about that! I am a liar because I claim to be conducting my life as a normal child of God. Interesting.

I suppose Paul was lying too, when he said, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" (Gal. 2:20). By this individual's thinking, this statement means that Jesus is a sinner, because Paul said that Christ was all that was left in him; and this man stated plainly, as so many do, that the apostle Paul was indeed a sinner. John must have been lying as well, because he plainly said, "He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as HE walked" (I Jn. 2:6). Hmmmm. And ALL of these people who support this modern 'Christian' nonsense continually contradict themselves with everything that they say. They have to say they are righteous, because otherwise they are not partakers of the faith and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. But then they turn around and actually make the PROUD boast of being a sinner. The reality, or non reality actually, of the modern 'grace' mindset is, that you are not righteous UNLESS you ARE presently a confessing and practicing sinner. You may not realize that it is saying that, but under the surface, the spirit behind it is making that exact point. And whose spirit might that be? Well, look at it this way; if we confess to be a sinner, what do you think we are going to be? That's exactly right, a sinner. And what does the BIBLE say about the hope of ANY sinner who remains in sin? "And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" Jesus answered that question for us with sobering clarity: "He that overcometh [sin] shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death" (Rev. 21:7,8). All that is really left for this little discussion are some more very sobering words of Jesus: "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still" (Rev. 22:11). I think that pretty well covers the bases and closes the case on the damnable heresy of the flesh-pleasing "sinners saved by grace" mentality. Amen.

From the Preserved Writings of Lary R. Hale

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Jesus Is All

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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