Having released his chart-topping sophomore album, Life Music: Stage Two in 2015, Jonathan McReynolds is showing no signs of slowing down. Elihu Nation is a nonprofit organization that is founded by Jonathan and is meant to help bring God into the lives of millennials. The foundation was created to help the youth find a deeper connection to God by coming to understand His wisdom and works. Jonathan has said, “Our purpose is simple: to create, promote and celebrate young seekers and carriers of wisdom.” Guests attending the Elihu Nation Launch Night will get to experience an extended live performance from Jonathan and each ticket purchased will provide a donation to Elihu Nation.
Elihu Nation has been established to help expose a generation to the wisdom of God. We celebrate, promote, and work to create young seekers and models of wisdom. The founder of Elihu Nation named this organization after the biblical character Elihu who asserted, among other things, that “it is the Spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty that gives them understanding…it is not only the old who are wise, not only the aged who understand what is right.” The core belief of this organization is that, with God and adequate community, young people can avoid ignorance, shallow living and life-altering mistakes. In fact, our zeal, energy and creativity coupled with godly wisdom can make us true world changers, incredibly effective and solid. Every generation has to understand how Jesus, Christianity meets “real life.” Millennials, generally identified as those born between 1980 and 2000 (at this moment 15-35 years old), are no different and Elihu Nation aims to foster this understanding through teaching, celebrate those that pursue deeper understanding of God and their purpose through scholarships and recognition, and promote those that demonstrate God’s wisdom, understanding, and principles in their art, prose, and other works.
Elihu Nation, Inc. was formed in August 2013 and received its 501c3 status in just a few months later. It was founded by Jonathan McReynolds (President/Executive Director), a national Christian recording artist, with guidance from his mother, Janis McReynolds, district administrator for Senator Mattie Hunter, and his sister Dina Everage, principal of Wentworth Elementary in Inglewood Community. They serve this organization as Secretary and Vice-President, respectively.
Jonathan McReynolds was inspired by his graduate studies at Moody Bible Institute (Master of Arts in Applied Biblical Studies, ’15) to create Elihu Nation. In his opinion, the African American community and the African American Church do not adequately encourage its musicians, preachers, and, quite frankly, any of its spiritual leaders to pursue higher education for the development of those gifts and talents. He immediately wanted to be able to celebrate the young people that did take the plunge into art school or seminary with the purpose of using their gifts to more effectively communicate the Gospel and Christian wisdom. It was actually while presenting this idea to his alma mater Columbia College (Bachelor of Music ’11) where McReynolds was offered a position as adjunct instructor of a new gospel repertory ensemble which he currently teaches. This teaching experience, interacting with several of these Elihu-like students, expanded his ambitions for this organization.
McReynolds came across several talented, mature college students with incredible artistic potential and some who were already establishing themselves as viable musicians. As someone who received a national recording contract only months after graduating from college, he knows how important exposure and experience are. Elihu Nation believes “art can attract them, but wisdom can preserve them” and the Christian creatives of the next generation need to be promoted as much as possible. McReynolds, 25, has gained notoriety across the gospel and secular music industry because of his unique writing style. It has been hailed as “profoundly straightforward and simple,” “practical” and “the future of gospel music.” He has made it his mission to spread the wisdom of God, translating the mysticism of Jesus to the everyday application of Christianity. He first found himself in the careful ranting of Elihu and believes there is a generation of Millennials just like him poised to do the same. Using his influence, resources and network, McReynolds plans to find those Elihus and build them up.
The heart of Elihu Nation lies in its ambition to create Elihus, potent seekers and carriers of wisdom, through powerfully relevant and practical teaching. E.N. is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois where crime statistics indicate that many Millennials are armed with everything but wisdom and sound decision making skills. Raised by a popular culture that doesn’t seem to regularly encourage prudence, forward thinking and moderation, it’s absolutely understandable why many in the generation do not seem to pursue and exercise wisdom. Elihu Nation wants to combat that sentiment and, using the appeal and power of celebrity and art, help them find answers to their questions, strengthen their sense of identity and self worth and, most of all, teach them to apply the Christian paradigm of wisdom to their daily lives. McReynolds firmly believes the wisdom set forth by God in the Christian faith is not meant to restrict but meant to protect, preserve and give us the most fruitful lives possible. Ecclesiastical 7:12 says “…the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to them that have it.” Soon the country, the Christian community, will know that to all who pursue, carry, and model godly wisdom have an advocate and fan in Elihu Nation.
