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

Being Of Faith

A South Asian man stands in quiet prayer at a sunlit threshold, with ceremonial vessels in shadow behind him and a living vine reaching into the luminous garden ahead.
© By One Spirit Ministries

I feel to make the post today as something of a continuance of yesterday’s post, and to emphasize what it really means to be ‘of faith.’ Let’s start with a quote from the apostle Paul, the man God chose to be the chief minister to the Gentile believers. “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham”(Gal. 3:7). Seeing that the promise of the everlasting inheritance is unto Abraham and his true seed, or children; I would say it’s very important for us to understand what being ‘of faith’ truly means. It’s really very simplistic, and I’ll just say it this way to start off with: Anything we can do apart from the empowerment and leading of God’s Spirit is not of faith. Why? Because anything we can do [pertaining to the worship and service of God] apart from the Spirit of God, is something that we can do ourselves, or by the help of someone else who is human. That is why Jesus said that under the new covenant those that worship God “must worship him in spirit and in truth" (Jn. 4:24). The ‘in spirit’ part of that equation means that the only way God can truly be worshipped now is by spiritual means. So why was/is that factor so significant? Because carnal ceremonies had been instrumental in the worship and service of God since Cain and Abel. Why was that? Because man had been under sin since Adam sinned, and that barrier existed between the hearts of men and God since Adam sinned; and therefore men’s spirits were not free to worship God in true holiness [meaning without sin]. Jesus came to make the way for the spiritual worship of God to be implemented by means of man being freed from sin and literally reconciled and joined to God in spirit (I Cor. 6:17). So what does that mean? "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: … I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one" (Jn. 17:21,23).

Yes friend, we are literally joined together with the Father and the Son, by means of us literally being ‘in Christ.’ Okay, so how does that happen? Three scriptures alone give us the answer to that all important question (Rom. 6:3,4; Gal. 3:27; I Cor. 12:13). All three of these scriptures make it clear that it is baptism that puts us ‘into Christ.’ And lest there be any controversy over which baptism does the job, I Cor. 12:13 clarifies that it is the baptism of the Spirit. It is certain that only the Spirit baptism could give us "newness of life,” as described in Rom. 6:4. Equally as certain is the reality that only the baptism of God’s Spirit could cause us to literally “put on Christ,” as mentioned in Gal. 3:27; for we are told that “the Lord IS that Spirit” (II Cor. 3:17). The flip side of ‘in spirit,’ or by spiritual means, is by means of carnal ceremonies, as was the practice from the time that sin entered into the world. That brings us to another quote from Gal. 3, where we began: “And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them" (Gal. 3:12). The law was “not of faith” because it was full of carnal ceremonies that could be done by man on his own, or with assistance from another man. The law was full of symbolic worship, but the Spirit of God is the reality of what those symbolic ceremonies pointed to (Gal. 3:23-27; Col. 2:17; Heb. 10:1). We know that prophecies which have been fulfilled are no longer in effect. By the same token symbolic ceremonies that have been fulfilled are no longer in effect either. To continue in them is to go backward from the leading of God’s Spirit (Gal. 5:7,8,18). The only place that God’s Spirit leads to is more of God’s Spirit. We are made a ‘new creature’ by the baptism of the Spirit, and the only thing we can rightly add to a new creature is more of a new creature (II Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15). Water baptism is of the law, though it was given in the end of the old covenant dispensation. Jesus made it clear that it was of the law, and also that it was something that he came to fulfill (Mat. 3:17; Mat. 5:17).

Water baptism is symbolic of the Spirit baptism, which is here, and in effect! Water baptism can be done by, and in fact has to be done by man. The Spirit baptism can only be received through faith by “the answer of a clear conscience toward God,” and was only made available “by the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (I Pet. 3:21). Therefore the Spirit baptism is ‘of faith,’ and of faith alone (Jn. 7:37-39; Gal. 3:14). No man can obtain it without coming clean in humility and faith toward Jesus, the only new testament baptizer (Mk. 1:6-8; Jn. 1:33). The flip side of worshipping God ‘in truth’ [in holiness] is to worship him in pretense, meaning to hold to sin; which God’s people have been notorious for since Cain (Gen. 4:7; Isa. 1:11-17; Mat. 15:8,9; I Cor. 5:6; Jas. 3:14). So the way has been made now for sin to be taken away, and for man to be truly joined to the Lord, and to worship God "in spirit [alone] and in truth [holiness].” That way is by the baptism of the holy Ghost, given by the hand of Jesus to those who obey him through repentance from sin and faith in him (Acts 5:32). And that baptism is the only baptism that is ‘of faith.’ So as believers in Christ we should follow the example of the apostle to the Gentiles, who said, “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh" (Philip. 3:3). Since nobody is trying to impose circumcision on believers today, we can accurately update that statement as follows: "For we are the baptized, who worship God only in spirit, and worship Jesus by the holy Ghost, and give no regard to ceremonies that only pertained to the flesh.” The only things we should regard are the things that Jesus had to die and raise to give us, meaning the things that are of the Spirit of God. Because “Christ is the end of the [ceremonial] law for righteousness to every one that believeth" (Rom. 10:4). 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