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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Scripture and Faith

A young man holds an open blank book on a garden bench while a woman cups a hand to her ear; both look toward bright sky with hands over their hearts.
© By One Spirit Ministries

Today I would like to just make a point concerning a couple of topics that have appeared on this page a few times in the past few weeks. If you were to ask a hundred people who profess faith in Christ what the word of God is, probably at least ninety nine of them would tell you "the Bible." And if you were to go back out a couple of days later and ask ninety nine more professing believers in Christ, What is the record that God has left of his Son? I would say again that at least ninety nine of them would say, "the Bible." And maybe by this point your wondering yourself, "So what's wrong with this guy? Both answers ARE the Bible." Are they? According to who, or according to what? If the answer to EITHER of these two questions is the Bible, then by all means show me where THE BIBLE states either of those claims. It does not. But in short order I will show you where the Bible DOES give us the answer to both questions, and in fact the answer to both of these questions is the same; but it isn't the Bible. First for the word of God: "What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the WORDS that I speak unto you, they are SPIRIT, and they are LIFE" (Jn. 6:62,63). I think it's safe to say that Jesus was speaking the word of God, especially since he himself is known AS the Word of God. And about now someone is thinking, "Can't this guy see that the Bible is the WRITTEN word? After all, the quote of what Jesus said is FROM the Bible." The Bible is telling ABOUT the word of God that Jesus was speaking, but there is no way on earth that anyone can compare reading these things to being in the presence of Jesus and HEARING these things spoken by him. Because it is written, "Where the WORD of a king is, there is POWER" (Eccl. 8:4). So as Jesus said, the words he spoke were SPIRIT, and they were LIFE. And what Spirit might that be? That's right, the HOLY Spirit. And what life might that be? "The SPIRIT of life IN Christ Jesus" of course (Rom. 8:2). The word of God itself CANNOT be written because it is "alive and powerful," as the scripture confirms (Heb. 4:12). No, the word of God can only be written ABOUT. And so the answer to the first question is that the holy Ghost IS the word of God, as the apostle Paul confirmed: "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Eph. 6:17). The grammar breakdown of this sentence clearly shows that it is "the Spirit" which is "the word of God." And Jesus takes us full circle and shows us the truth of the matter again: "He that hath an ear, let him HEAR what the SPIRIT SAITH unto the [congregations]" (Rev. 3:13). So it is clear that the word of God is what the Spirit of God SAYS, not what is written ABOUT what the Spirit has said. So then no one actually has the word of God unless they have received the Spirit and have learned to LISTEN to the Spirit.

As for the "record" of Jesus, we will allow the beloved apostle to bring that to us in clarity: "And it is the Spirit that beareth WITNESS, because the Spirit is TRUTH... If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath TESTIFIED of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the RECORD that God gave of his Son" (I Jn. 5:6,9,10). Now the three words, "witness," "testified," and "record," are all taken from two Greek words, called "Martureo, and "marturia," both of which mean the same exact thing - "a testimony given by someone." So these three English words were used by the translators for variety sake, to avoid repetitiveness; but actually they have the exact same meaning, which is to testify. So the words "testified," [testimony] and "record" mean the same thing as "witness;" which witness verse 6 clearly says is the Spirit. So again, it is the holy Ghost that is the record that God has given to us of his Son, and not the Bible. Not convinced? John again wrote about the truth of this matter in another place: "And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the TESTIMONY of Jesus: worship God: for the TESTIMONY of Jesus is the SPIRIT of prophecy" (Rev. 19:10). So again we see that the testimony or record of Jesus is actually the holy Ghost, which IS the Spirit of prophecy. And we can once again allow Jesus to conclude this very important point of truth to us: "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the SPIRIT OF TRUTH, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall TESTIFY of me: And ye ALSO shall BEAR WITNESS, because ye have been with me from the beginning" (Jn. 15:26,27). And again, the word "testify" comes from the Greek word "martureeo," so we see the truth confirmed to us that it is indeed the SPIRIT OF TRUTH that is the record that God has given of his Son. Note also that Jesus told his disciples that they would "bear witness" of him only AFTER they had received the Spirit. And John said, as is quoted above, whoever "believes on the Son of God has THE WITNESS [record, testimony] in himself." And that goes perfectly with the words of Jesus, when he said, "He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive" (Jn. 7:38,39). So then no one actually has the record of Jesus Christ unless they have received the Spirit of Christ. And that is why the scripture says, "no man can say [bear witness] that Jesus is the Lord, BUT BY the Holy Ghost" (I Cor. 12:3). And that is also why the scripture tells us, "Now if any man have NOT the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Rom. 8:9). 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