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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By One Spirit

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45Years of ministry

July 28, 2013

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Paul kneels on the road to Damascus beneath overwhelming divine light while his companions witness the encounter that changes his life.
© By One Spirit Ministries

The Kingdom of God

I had a Christian individual recently tell me that my testimony of the real and powerful things that Jesus has done for me in my life are just "subjective personal experience," and that we can't go by that. He says we ha…

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Paul kneels on the road to Damascus beneath overwhelming divine light while his companions witness the encounter that changes his life.
© By One Spirit Ministries

I had a Christian individual recently tell me that my testimony of the real and powerful things that Jesus has done for me in my life are just "subjective personal experience," and that we can't go by that. He says we have to "go by the word." What he means is that we have to go by a 'word only' Gospel, and that there is not really anything tangible from heaven available to us. Funny, that doesn't sound much like my Bible: "For the kingdom of God is NOT in word, but in POWER" (I Cor. 4:20). Neither does it sound much like "the author and finisher of our faith," the Lord Jesus Christ: "But ye shall receive POWER, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you" (Heb. 12:2; Acts 1:8). My friend, when the power that created all things comes upon you, it creates a powerful personal experience with God! And if that power does NOT come upon you, then you have nothing at all, and according to the scriptures you do not belong to God (Rom. 8:9). God's power has delivered me from sin, and continues to purify and preserve me in his love and holiness daily, as the Bible says it should be (Rom. 6:1,2; Rom. 8:13; Gal. 5:16; I Pet. 4:1,2; I Jn. 3:2,3; etc.). That in fact was the point that this Christian individual was contesting, arguing that we can't be literally free from sin in our hearts and minds. All that tells me is that he doesn't want to come clean with God and be washed, sanctified, and justified by God's HOLY Spirit (I Cor. 6:11). But let me get back to this "subjective personal experience" thing, and how we "can't go by that." I suppose we can't accept the testimony of the apostle Paul, who liked to start his preaching with the account of how Jesus met him on the road to Damascus, spoke to him, and blinded him with his light (Acts 9:1-18; Acts 22:4-16). After all, that was just "subjective personal experience." And it's for sure that we have to throw out the four Gospels, seeing they are just written from the "subjective personal experience" of four men who said they were with Jesus, and that Jesus did this and that. That sounds kind of fishy. After all, I wasn't there, and I didn't see these things. And let's be certain that we throw out the entire old testament too, seeing that it is just chock full of people making these outlandish claims based on nothing but their own "subjective personal experience." I mean, we've got a guy who said God spoke to him about building a huge ark, and that he was going to destroy the world with a flood (Gen. 6:13,14). C'mon now, that's pretty far out, don't you think? After all, the smart scientists don't acknowledge this world wide flood that supposedly took place.

Then we've got this guy who claims to have met with God at a bush that was burning but not consumed by the fire, and that God appointed him there and then to go to Egypt to deliver his people from bondage. Then the same guy later claims to have met with God on top of a mountain, and that God gave him all these rules for men to live by. Who did this guy think he was anyway? That's just a bunch of "subjective personal experience!" Then we've got all these guys [called themselves prophets - ha ha] back then that claim that God spoke to them personally and told them to tell everyone to get things straightened out, or hard judgment would come on them. No wonder the people gave those guys such a hard time, and even killed a bunch of them. What right did they have to impose their own "personal subjective experiences" on all those people anyway? Why, that doesn't sound very fair to me, does it you? Then we really have to deal with this whole thing about this guy called Jesus. Can you believe that he actually had the nerve to claim that he was the only begotten Son of God, and that he came from heaven to save everyone? Wow! Hey, who needed saving anyway, and who gave this guy the right to make these ridiculously bold claims? And do you know what he had the gall to say? "We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen" (Jn. 3:11). There it is again, the same old story; "subjective personal experience" claims. Yeah, yeah, a lot of folks claim that he died for the sins of the world, and that he rose again and went back to heaven. WHO SAYS??!! Why should I believe a report like that when it was just passed along on the testimony of certain people, according to their own claimed "subjective personal experience" of having seen these things take place? And as far as that goes, what about this big guy that everybody calls God? Who says he exists? The only way we have supposed knowledge that he does exist, is by the "subjective personal experiences" of people who have claimed to interact with him. Yeah I know we can see the supposed 'creation' around us everywhere, but who can say that evolution didn't do all of that? There's some really smart folks who claim that it did. Why should I believe all of this stuff about God, his Son, and all these people through the ages that have made all of these fantastic claims based on nothing but their own "subjective personal experiences?"

Okay my friend, the joke is over now, and it in fact is no joke at all. I am absolutely certain that you've gotten the point here, and that you've gotten it in spades. The truth of the matter is that there is no such thing as any knowledge of God APART FROM REAL PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH GOD!!! That's exactly right, all we have in the entire Bible are the personal experiences of those who have known God for themselves. And I've got news for you: If you don't have exactly what they had, you are NOT going to be with them in eternity. If you have the audacity to try to refute the real, true, and powerful experience that another person has with God; you will go where the one who is behind that refute is going for all eternity. One who had great personal experience with Jesus tells us this: "This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth" (I Jn. 5:6). Yes, the Spirit of God is truth, and that same Spirit will teach truth and speak truth to all who will listen (Jn. 14:26; Jn. 16:13; I Jn. 2:27; Rev. 2:7). And as I said earlier, that same Spirit is also power; and that power DOES THINGS for those who receive it and follow after it! Most pointedly it delivers, purifies, and preserves the hearts of those who have it and love it, from sin and ungodliness (Acts 15:8,9; Tit. 2:11,12; I Pet. 1:22). If someone wants to say that my real life, real time personal relationship, experience, and knowledge of God is just "subjective personal experience; that's just fine. They are only depriving themselves of the most glorious thing ever made available to mankind, and they are also fulfilling the proverb that says; "Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool" (Eccl. 10:3). And the Bible I read puts this whole thing in a nutshell for us: "And they [true believers] overcame him [the devil] by the blood of the Lamb, and by THE WORD OF THEIR TESTIMONY; and they loved not their lives unto the death" (Rev. 12:11). So then, without an ongoing real life, real time personal testimony of the deliverance power of God in our lives, we simply will not overcome the devil, and we will not be saved. Simple as that. Amen.

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Jesus Is All

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Selected Broadcast 50: Jesus Is All

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 only getting stronger 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