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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Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them

By Lary R. HaleAugust 21, 2016

Three friends share attentive fellowship around a raised candle in a quiet room. — © By One Spirit Ministries

"Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them. For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief" (Prov. 24:1,2). There are some things that need to be understood by people who love the righteousness of God; about the love of God, and where to draw some lines in our lives with people. If you feel comfortable hanging out with people whose "lips talk of mischief," and whose hearts are not repentant toward God, then you just don't love the righteousness of God; and you don't love Jesus. Our text passage says that the hearts of the wicked "study destruction," so what exactly does that mean? One might think, "Well, that sounds like terrorists planning an attack on innocent people." While that certainly falls into that category, people 'study destruction' by doing a lot less that planning terrorist attacks. The real 'destruction' that people are actually studying to pursue is how to go to hell, and everyone who is not repentant toward God and seeking to be closer to him, is simply studying on how to go to hell; which is the ultimate destruction, or 'ruin' as the term is also defined. If you do love Jesus and the righteousness he imparts to true believers, and you don't like being in the presence of people who are proudly contrary to that righteousness, there is nothing wrong with feeling that way. If we have malice or a judgmental, condemning spirit toward people for their sins, that is wrong on our part. But if we do NOT have that problem, and our love is intact; we SHOULDN'T want to be with anyone who is against that love! Allow me to show you something from the scriptures that better explains what I'm saying: "Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof... The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left" (Isa. 24:1,5,6).

That passage is speaking of the second coming of Jesus to this world, when he will literally burn up the wicked people who have held to their wickedness. Why will he do this? Well, for starters he doesn't want to be around them, and secondly they have no right or privilege to be around him; seeing they have "trodden under foot the Son of God," and have already clearly demonstrated that they didn't want to be in his presence anyway (Heb. 10:29). The Bible plainly tells us, "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble" (Jas. 4:6). Why would the hearts of the righteous want to be around those who are opposed to God, and those whom God is opposed to? That is where the following exhortation from the apostle Paul comes from: "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you" (II Cor. 6:14-17). These verses are most often associated with the issue of marriage, but why wouldn't they apply to other relationships and associations as well? In fact they do. A lot of people get fooled by the old "I'm going to win them" line that Satan loves to throw at unstable and unlearned souls, in regard to the love of God. And the truth is we do have to be around a lot of different kinds of people in this world, and we do have to have God's love and patience in our dealings with people. And of course we want to win EVERYONE to the love of Christ, but that doesn't mean that we throw in our lot with the wicked and hang out with those who are proudly against the righteousness of God in order to achieve that objective. If we can't establish a dominion of God's holy love in an environment, then we should not be a voluntary partaker of it.

There are some who make themselves quite available and quite a help to those who have consistently shown no motivation whatsoever to repent and make Jesus their life. And they think they are pleasing God in doing so, and that they are slowly but surely 'winning them to the Lord.' These should take heed to what a prophet once told a righteous king of Judah: "And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord" (II Chron. 19:2). Actually Jehoshaphat had been visiting others who were part of the household of God as well, but those others were disobedient and wicked. God was displeased with this righteous king of Judah hanging out with the unrighteous king of the northern kingdom of Israel, and his wicked family. Actually bad things came from it, as Jehoshaphat let his son marry Ahab and Jezebel's daughter, which only led to ruin. He should have despised the presence of Ahab and Jezebel, and had nothing to do with them. That may not sound like 'love' to a lot of folks today, but that's because a lot of folks today don't understand the love of God and his righteous judgment. If we have to conform to the environment of people who are not interested in holiness, in order to be around them, then we are sinning against God. Plain and simple. Listen to what Jesus said about this matter: "No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light" (Lk. 11:33). Sinners love to talk about how Jesus hung out with sinners when he was here, and he did indeed. But somehow the core of that matter always gets left out of the conversation, which is that Jesus ONLY hung out with sinners when HE WAS THE ENVIRONMENT! In other words, it was actually the sinners who hung out with Jesus because THEY WANTED OUT OF THEIR SINS, and he was and is the only way to solve that problem!

If we want to do things the way Jesus did things, first of all we need to "be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might" (Eph. 6:10). Then we can either establish the dominion of God's Spirit wherever we are, or people will simply not want us around. It's pretty clear with a lot of people as to whether they want the righteousness of God in their midst, and if they don't then we should sense that and not want to be in their midst either. So what I'm trying to say here is that it is a GOOD THING to not want to be around those who don't want to be around Jesus. We just don't want to become 'separatists,' and get too comfortable not being around anyone who needs to be redeemed from their sins. Neither can we "judge according to the appearance," and count people out because of where they are presently at spiritually (Jn. 7:24). I personally can be in just about any kind of environment, at least for a time, because I cannot be intimidated to subject myself to any environment that is contrary to God. I also know how to leave a situation without worrying about someone's 'hurt feelings,' if I see that is what is in order. We just don't want to fall prey to an intimidating spirit that makes us feel that we don't love people because we refuse to entertain their evil ways in order to be around them. There is absolutely no larger factor than a person's associations, that will determine what direction they will take in their lives; especially when it comes to following Jesus. One man asked Jesus if he could simply bury his father before following him. Seems reasonable enough, but Jesus had another idea about it: "Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead" (Mat. 8:22). Those who love the righteousness of God that is in Christ, and are pursuing eternal life, should not want to be voluntarily around those who are pursuing death. If we are going to be those who "follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth," it should be our first nature to cast our lot with those who are doing the same, and to not accompany those who are defiantly going in the opposite direction (Rev. 14:4).

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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