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About the Author[1]
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Shalom mishpocha. My full “diaspora” name is
Rickard Leavitt Sawyer and my shem kodesh (Hebrew “religious” name) is Ari Levitt or
ארו בּנ-לוי, Ari ben-Levi.[2] It has been
my distinct privilege to have served as Professor of Systematic Theology and
Comparative Religion, Instructor in English Grammar and Composition, Assistant
Dean of Directed Individualized Studies, and Assistant Vice President for
Academic Affairs at Spring Valley Bible College and Seminary in Alameda,
California. After that I served as Professor of Systematic Theology and
Comparative Religion, Academic Dean, and Vice President for Academic Affairs at
Golden State School of Theology in Oakland, California, and finally as
Administrator, Chairman of Curriculum Development, and Cataloging Librarian
at Grace School of Theology and Ministry in Pleasant Hill, California. I have
also conducted numerous graduate and postgraduate courses and seminars in Bible
doctrine, church administration, comparative religion, and the cults since 1983.
As for my education, some people collect stamps; I collect diplomas. I hold a Master of Theology (Th.M.) in Systematic Theology, a Doctor of Theology (Th.D.) in Cults and Comparative Religion, Master of Arts (M.A.) in Biblical Studies, a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) in Bible College Administration and Curriculum Development, a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Business and Organizational Management, a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) in Church Administration, an Associate of Arts in Criminal Justice (all summa cum laude), and I completed the didactic portion of a Doctor of Naturopathy (N.D.) program, but when my wife died in December, 2008, I closed our natural health clinic and did not complete the clinical portion of the program. On October 28, 2025, I was accepted as a member of the Society for Post-Supersessionist Theology.
Since 1965 I have served in numerous congregational leadership positions at a variety of churches including Pastor, Associate Pastor, Youth Pastor, Teaching Elder, Director of Education, Church Chairman/Administrator, Deacon, Adult Education Chairman, and Christian Education Chairman, and founded Family Bible Church on February 1, 1997. As for my semikhah, I was first licensed as a Minister of the Gospel in March of 1988 through Grace Bible Church in Pleasant Hill, California, ordained through the Conservative Baptist Association of California in October of 1991, and credentialed as a Messianic Minister (MMin) by the Messianic Bureau International in June of 2001. I currently serve as Founder and Resident Theologian of the Center for Messianic Learning.[3]
I have authored numerous briefs and papers on Christian and Messianic Jewish theology, church administration, world religions, the cults, and the occult (many of which are posted on this web site), as well as a church management handbook which has been used successfully by numerous churches as a guide to reorganization for increased effectiveness and efficiency of ministry. I have been an active Bible teacher in local congregations for over 50 years, and offered ministry consulting services from 1983 until 1994.
My Spiritual Journey
I have known Adonai Yeshua HaMashiach[4] as my personal Lord and Savior since 1953. I was five years old when I made my public confession of faith and was immersed.
I asked my AI (MS Copilot) to “Imagine me as an ancient prophet of Israel.” Good job or not? |
In 1999 HaShem[GN] laid it upon my heart to seek out my Jewish “roots,” as I believe I may be a physical descendant of Avraham, Yitz’chak, and Ya'akov (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), my ancestral name (spelled variously as Leavitt, Levitt, or Levet) suggesting possible relationship to the tribe of Levi. In the course of that quest the Holy Spirit led me to discover the Messianic Restoration Movement, a rapidly growing body of Jewish and non-Jewish believers in Yeshua HaMashiach who believe that God’s Elect, whether Jew or Gentile, living before or after “the Cross,” are all one in the Body of Yeshua, and are the true Commonwealth of Israel. [Much more detail about that journey HERE.]
I don’t think they had stained glass windows in ancient Israel. |
This position is in conflict with the traditional Christian doctrine that “the Church” is separate and distinct from Israel, and consists of all believers in “Jesus Christ” from the Day of Pentecost until the Rapture. This traditional position is the one that I held and taught for over 40 years. However, the word “church” per se never actually appears in Scripture. I now believe that the word is actually an unfortunate translation error that has caused much of the rift between Jews and Gentiles for about the past 1,900 years.[5]
The Messianic Restoration Movement
The overarching goal of the Messianic Restoration Movement is to reunite Jewish and Gentile believers in Yeshua HaMashiach into one Holy Family, and to offer to all who so desire, both Jew and non-Jew, the opportunity to return to the style of worship that was actually practiced by the Nazarene sect of Judaism, or “The Way” (Hebrew Ha Derek),[6] as the followers of Yeshua were called until well into the fourth century of the Common Era. It is our belief that true Biblical faith is properly best understood as a completed and “corrected” form of Judaism, and that “true Judaism” is that which recognizes King Yeshua HaMashiach as Israel’s Messiah. This makes perfect sense if one stops for just a moment to consider a few basic points:
• The entire collection of writings that we know as the Bible was written by Jews, to Jews, in Jewish places, in the Jewish language, about a Jewish King.
• Yeshua ben Yosef, also known as Yeshua HaMashiach, the Jewish Messiah (and erroneously called “Jesus Christ” due to inadequate translation from Hebrew) was a Torah-observant Jewish Rabbi. He was born into a Torah-observant Jewish family, lived His entire life as a Jew, died and was buried a Jew, arose from the grave as a Jew, ascended to the Father as a Jew, and will return as a Jew to reign as King of the Jews.
• Yeshua taught that He had not come to destroy Torah (the “Law” — another unfortunate translation), but that Torah might be fulfilled. He also taught that not one yod (the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet) or even a tittle (decorative flourishes on some Hebrew letters) of the Torah would pass away.
• Until the end of the first century, the Nazarene sect of Judiasm called Ha Derek, “the Way” (as the followers of Yeshua were originally called) was almost exclusively Jewish, and remained predominately Jewish until well into the second century. In fact, in the early years, prior to the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15), one was required to convert to Judaism before one could be accepted into the community of Believers in Messiah.
• During the Millennial Kingdom, Yeshua will rule the entire earth from His throne in Jerusalem. The Temple will be rebuilt and Temple (Levitical) worship will be restored, along with the Levitical sacrificial system. This would suggest that all worship in the Kingdom may well be patterned after Temple worship. If we intend to be a part of the Kingdom, does it not make sense to start practicing that form of worship that Yeshua followed over 2,000 years ago, and which He will probably institute in the future Kingdom?
• It does not take much research to uncover a strong antisemitic bias and a huge amount of paganism that has been incorporated into “the Church” over the past two millennia. Once having become enlightened to those antisemitic beliefs and pagan practices, is it appropriate for a Believer to continue to observe and participate in those practices? Or is it better to reject those pagan practices and return to following the Scriptures in preference to the traditions of men?
• Once we have discovered linguistic errors in the transmission of the Scriptures, does it make sense to cling to those errors? [Such as the use of terms like “Jesus” and “Jehovah,” both of which are grammatically impossible in the Hebrew or Aramaic languages, or obvious translation errors like the words “church“ and “Holy Ghost.”]
• When we learn that modern “Christmas” is nothing more than a modified version of the Roman festival of Saturnalia in honor of their pagan god Saturn, and that Yeshua was actually born in the autumn during the Feast of Tabernacles, with absolute certainty not on December 25, does it make sense to continue observing what has become the most pagan holiday of the entire year next to HaSatan’s high holy day, Halloween? Or when we have been taught that the modern celebration of “Easter” is taken directly from the Babylonian Mystery Religion and is in honor of the fertility goddess Ishtar (a.k.a Astarte, iana, Venus, etc.), after whom the Roman Catholic Church patterned their worship of Mary as “Queen of Heaven,” does it make sense to continue to observe that pagan festival instead of celebrating the Resurrection at its rightful time on the Feast of First Fruits, the first day of the week following Passover?
• When we learn that there is no biblical precedent for setting aside ADONAI’s[GN] Sabbath in favor of worshipping on Sunday, that this tradition is in fact nothing more nor less than submission to the authority of the Roman Catholic Church, is there a valid reason for non-Catholics continuing to do so? Or should we be obedient to God’s commandment to “remember Shabbat (the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week) and keep it holy” (Exod. 20:8; Deut. 5:15) — a commandment which has never been rescinded by Scripture. In fact, the practice of Sunday worship began with a decree from the Roman emperor that no work could be done on Sun-day because it was to be a day of worship of the Roman sun god (hence the name Sun-day), and carried over into the cult which Constantine developed and called “Christianity,” the Roman Catholic Church. Catholic leaders still mock Protestants who worship on Sunday, because they are only doing so (according to Roman Catholic sources) out of their recognition of the Pope’s authority over them.
Detailed Ministry History • Full Autobiography
1. This page was originally written in the grammatical third person (“Dr. Sawyer, “he,” etc.”), but when I was reading it over this evening it sounded really “stilted” to my ear, and I was not pleased with what I was hearing. I have had a significant number of people tell me that this website is easy for them to understand because of the conversational style in which most of the pages have been written. It is my earnest desire that you, the reader, would feel as if you and I were sitting in a warm and cozy den somewhere, chatting about the things of the Kingdom. So this evening, Monday, 13 March 2023, I am rewriting the page in hopes of capturing that more conversational feeling. [BACK]
2. To be a bit more accurate, Ari ben Levi is the short form of my shem kodesh. My full and proper name is Ari ben Gavriel ha Levi, or Rick son of William the Levite. [BACK]
3. This present ministry originally began as Family Bible Church, an independent “Baptistic” congregation. In about 1999 I becan to be aware of the Messianic Restoration Movement and in 2000 the assembly was renamed Family Bible Messianic Ministries. In about 2019 the current name began to seem more appropriate. Since my retirement in 2008 the Center for Messianic Learning has consisted only of this website. [BACK]
4. Messiah’s name and title as it would have been expressed in His native language, Hebrew. Adonai is “Lord.” Yeshua means “salvation” or “ADONAI saves, and is the name He was given by the angel Gabriel (Luke 1:30-33). HaMashiach is “the Anointed One” or “the Messiah.” To this we might rightfully add the designation “Ha Melek,” the King, as He is the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. Those who did not know Him as Messiah would have known Him as Yeshua ben Yosef. [BACK]
5. It is impossible to determine whether the error was intentionally or unintentionally anti-Semitic, but more likely the work of HaSatan to divide the Holy Community into “us” and “them” and thereby weaken the work of HaShem’s Elect. The Greek word translated as “church” in the Apostolic Writings (the so-called “New Testament”) is ecclesia, which literally means “called out” and is used in the Septuagint (the first Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures) to refer to Jewish congregations or assemblies, or to the holy convocations of Israel. It is my opinion (as always, please feel free to disagree) that the word carried exactly the same meaning in the Apostolic Writings and did not refer to a “new religion.” (See also “Where Did the Word ‘Church’ Come From?”) [BACK]
6. That is, “The Way” to properly live Torah in daily life as taught by Rebbe Yeshua HaMashiach. [BACK]
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ANXIOUSLY WATCHING FOR MASHIACH’S RETURN,
SPEEDILY AND IN OUR DAY. MARANA, TA!
