Dr. Barry Robert Leventhal

Barry Robert Leventhal (aka. Baruch, The Bear and Papa), 79 years old, shed his earthly body, certainly with boundless joy and enthusiasm, and sprinted into glory to meet his Messiah face to face. Barry was born in Los Angeles, California on May 7, 1943. After being widely recruited in both football and basketball, he graduated from San Gabriel High School and set off to play football for his beloved UCLA Bruins. As a senior, he co-captained the Bruins to an improbable 14-12 victory against a #1 ranked, undefeated Michigan State team in the 1966 Rose Bowl and in the process notched the Bruins their very first Rose Bowl victory. In the 56 years since he graduated from UCLA, he never lost his love for his Bruins or his disdain for the USC Trojans. Having reached the apex of his athletic career after the Rose Bowl victory, Barry began to experience how short-lived was the elation that so often goes with earthly, temporal achievements. In the months following the Rose Bowl victory, through the faithfulness of close friends, regular meetings with Hal Lindsey and time spent studying the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah, Barry realized that he was being pursued by the “hound of heaven” and came to the eternity-altering realization that he had a God-shaped vacuum in his heart that could not be filled by anything but Jesus Christ. On April 24, 1966, Barry placed his faith in the free-gift of eternal life offered through the death and resurrection of Jesus – a decision that radically altered the trajectory of his life and would go on to impact the lives of thousands of others. In the summer of 1966, after graduating with a degree in Kinesiology, Barry met the one true love of his life, a beautiful blonde haired, blue-eyed gal from Galax, Virginia. He and Mary were married on June 10, 1967, and they stayed by each other’s sides, through thick and thin, for the next 55 years, 6 months and 3 days. Marriage is hard yet these two were diligent to keep pursuing one another over all the difficulties that a half-century of life threw at them. Out of their enduring love came four children and sixteen grandchildren. Following a stint on staff with Athletes in Action, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, Barry went on to earn his ThM. in Christian Education and a PhD. in Systematic Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. His doctoral dissertation was a ground-breaking work entitled, Theological Perspectives on the Holocaust. It was during these years that Barry discovered, diligently cultivated, and began to share his deep love and respect for God’s Word. Over the next 50+ years Barry would go on to help plant several churches, including Christian Family Chapel (Jacksonville, FL) and Woodbridge Community Fellowship (Woodbridge, VA). He co-founded Christian Family Life with Don Meredith to help encourage and strengthen marriages and families. He led and served with Ariel Ministries where he helped disciple and equip Jewish believers. Additionally, Barry spent over 30 years teaching at the graduate and post-graduate level – at Dallas Theological Seminary (Dallas, TX), Trinity School for Ministry (Ambridge, PA) and the last 20 years at Southern Evangelical Seminary (Matthews, NC). He contributed to numerous books and scholarly journals and was a sought-after speaker on topics like Biblical Prophecy and the Holocaust. Barry was one of those rare individuals who was gifted with a giant intellect, an extremely high emotional quotient, and an incredibly strong work ethic. He was as adept at teaching Greek, Hebrew, apologetics, philosophy, and church history as he was teaching pastoral ministry or an introduction to preaching class. He was equally comfortable in the pulpit, the classroom, or the living room. His greatest contributions, from a ministry perspective, were in making the Bible accessible and in making sure everyone he met knew that Jesus was alive and that He loved them. He took difficult concepts, gave them handholds, and then showed you where to grab. He was practical – showing how the Bible, properly understood, is as relevant today as it was when it was written. Barry was no ivory tower academic cloistered away in an off-limits office. He wasn’t afraid of the mess. He leaned into the hard stuff. He frequently engaged waitresses, nurses, neighbors, and random folks he met. He would tell them about Jesus and share with them a Joe Gibbs tract that laid out clearly how they could come to know this Jewish Savior. As Barry aged, his body began to break down. The glory days of football took a significant toll on him orthopedically. He underwent untold number of surgeries to in an attempt to lessen his pain. Two new knees…two new hips…spine fused from top to bottom. The Six Million Dollar Man he was not. And though none of these surgeries resulted in the pain reduction Barry so deeply wanted, their benefits showed up in other ways. The pain the LORD allowed in his life did its work to round off his rough edges. Some get bitter…some get better. Barry got better – more empathetic…more kind…more patient…more loving. In short, pain helped Barry become more like Jesus. Barry was a “let’s have fun” guy. He relished going to the movies with his family. He was a great storyteller. He appreciated a good bone-in ribeye (he would gnaw the bone). After a satisfying meal, he was quick to look for “something sweet to cut the grease” – chocolate was his dessert of choice. He was spontaneous – sometimes to a fault. He was a life-long learner – he was constantly reading his books…oh, his books, overflowing on every bookshelf that could be squeezed into their house. Barry loved his students. He was a life-long teacher – teaching his classes at the seminary almost to the very end. For him, a love of teaching was hard-wired in his DNA, and he was world-class. For decades, he mentored, developed, and took a deep and heartfelt interest in his students. He bemoaned that the art of teaching had been reduced to assignments and tests with no bearing on the practical aspects of real life. He wanted his classes to lead to transformation and worked tirelessly to ensure that his students left with not just the required information but with the tools to use that information to the glory of God and the betterment of man. Barry loved Israel. One of the great joys in his life was leading tours through the Holy Land. On his last trip to Israel in 2013, at age 70, he got his first tattoo (this author can attest that he literally fell asleep while the tattoo artist was putting it on him) – an Israeli flag on his upper right arm. He was desperate for his kinsmen to come to know Jesus as their Messiah. Barry loved his family. He made sure to tell them that he loved them every chance he got. He was a present leader in the home – showing up for soccer and football games, wrestling matches, choir concerts and all the other activities that come with a family of six. Barry wanted his kids to develop the skill of thoughtful living. When one of his children wanted to plead their case to do or buy something big, he would say, “tell me your top three reasons. If your top three don’t convince me, the other twenty reasons won’t either.” He was proficient at saying he was sorry and asking for forgiveness (a trait noticeably absent in most of the world today, with disastrous results). “I sure am proud of you” was a regular refrain from his lips. Lastly and most importantly, Barry loved the LORD – Father, Son, and Spirit. He never lost the wonder that Jesus is the Messiah. He lived in the awe that he had been reconciled to God through the death, burial, and resurrection of a Jewish carpenter – God in the flesh. He loved God’s Word, the Bible. Most of his life he was an advocate of the NASB Ryrie Study Bible. Armed with a red pen, a yellow highlighter and ruler – he read, re-read, studied, marked up, cross-referenced, and memorized that book. Barry was preceded in death by his mother, Lillian, his father, Curly and his son-in-law, Thomas Hess. He is survived by his wife, Mary; his four children, Rebecca and her husband Phil, Katie, David and his wife Missy and Timothy; his 16 grandchildren, Christopher, Rebecca, Adia, Jordan, Daniel, Josh, Caroline, Joslyn, Abigail, Cameron, Joshua, Luke, Lilly, Kate, Timothy and Madison; his beloved sister, Joyce (“Sissy”) and her husband Steve. In addition to his family, Barry is survived by hundreds and hundreds of students that he loved, mentored, taught, and exhorted. Though he is gone from this present world, he’s just getting started! One can only wonder what he is doing with his new body – free from the pain that plagued him. We know he’s having fun…and we bet he still has his Israel tattoo! A private family graveside service will be held at Hamilton Mill Memorial Gardens with a Celebration of Life Service at a later date at All Saints Anglican Church in Weddington, NC. The family will be holding a celebration of life service for Dr. Leventhal on January 28th at All Saints Anglican Church at 11 am. The address for the church is 5328 Hemby Rd, Weddington, NC 28104

Dr. Barry Robert Leventhal

May 7, 1943 - December 13, 2022