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

Reasons

A purse of silver coins rests beside an olive branch on a shadowed table.
© By One Spirit Ministries

One thing is for sure: If you look for a ‘good’ reason to believe and do the wrong thing, there will always be one there for you. It’s called justifying sin, and it hasn’t changed since sin was first conceived in this world: “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat" (Gen. 3:6). Eve found three ‘good’ reasons to break the commandment of God, and help usher in death upon the glorious life that God had given them and their seed after them. Saul, the first king of Israel, had ‘good’ reasons likewise, for not fulfilling God’s commandment by Samuel to destroy all of the Amalekites and everything that pertained to them: "And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD. And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed" (I Sam. 15:13-15). Well, it certainly made sense to keep the best of the sheep and the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord. After all, what could be more important than sacrificing to the Lord? "And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams" (I Sam. 15:22).

That is correct my friend, obeying God’s will is the only thing that matters to God, and there is no true way to justify not doing just that. Nonetheless, if you are wavering on whether to believe and do what is right in the sight of God in a thing, there will always be those seemingly good and sensible reasons to do otherwise. And as they were in the beginning, those reasons are always provided by the enemy of your soul, the devil. Listening to Satan’s reasons cost Saul at least the kingdom, and likewise eliminated his seed after him from continuing in the kingdom. Neither do the scriptures give a good forecast on his soul (I Chr. 10:13). In his own mind, Judas was not stealing from the treasury bag that was entrusted to him to keep. He had found good reasons to see it as something other than stealing. And betrayal was not something that was in his mind when he accepted the thirty pieces of silver from the chief priests for disclosing where to find Jesus. In his thinking, he had a good reason to get Jesus together with them, probably so they could get a better understanding of each other. No wonder the scripture warns us to "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding" (Prov. 3:5). And where was Judas really getting these ‘understandings’ from? "And after the sop Satan entered into him" (Jn. 13:27). Judas had opened himself up to the devil by listening to his reasons for stealing from the bag, and therefore he was fully primed to continue listening to him to find a good reason to betray Jesus. Entertaining the devil cost Judas his life, his apostleship, and his soul.

Demas, the fellow minister of the apostle Paul, in his own mind did not ‘forsake’ Paul, nor did he choose rather to "love this present world,” as Paul asserted. Rather Demas listened to good reasons as to why he should leave Paul to go back and ‘help’ the believers in Thessalonica, a city where Paul had established a congregation in Christ (II Tim. 4:10). The truth is friend, if we do not “keep [our] hearts with all diligence,” and “purify [our] hearts, even as he [Jesus] is pure,” we are giving space to Satan to give us ‘good’ reasons for believing and doing the wrong thing (Prov. 4:23; I Jn. 3:3). Jesus said that believers whose faith and love would be fading in the last days, would “betray one another, and hate one another" (Mat. 24:10). He also said, "yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will THINK that he doeth God service" (Jn. 16:2). This condition is what the apostle Paul exhorted us to avoid, when he said; "Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil" (Eph. 4:26,27). Don’t let the sun go down on or be risen with any other sin either, but rather get it righted now, and let any sin be "open beforehand, going before to judgment” (I Tim. 5:4). To allow any kind of sin to remain in our hearts, IS to “give place to the devil.” And that leaves us with only one more admonition to remember: “And be not conformed to [the mind of] this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Rom. 12:2). Amen

From the Preserved Writings of Lary R. Hale

By One Spirit · Media library

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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