A Man of Many Talents

Most people know Luther Wardlaw for his musical acumen, but his talent extends far beyond singing. From movies and music production to running a restaurant, nonprofit ministry, clothing line and family, Luther’s faith has made him unstoppable.

My first question was not how, but Why? Any one of Luther Wardlaw’s many business ventures and acts of philanthropy would be a full-time job. So why does he continue to find new ways to be involved in the community? The usual suspects for such busyness didn’t fit. Thirty seconds in a room with Luther Wardlaw, and you’ve crossed out anything resembling self-importance or ego. Don’t get me wrong. He will step up to a podium, walk on any stage, and do so without hesitation. Not with self-importance— but self-confidence. The answer to why is simple. Luther is the man with five talents. (Ref. Matthew 15) He uses everything he’s been given to love and to serve. And for that reason, God gives him more.

Luther’s father, Rev. Carl Wardlaw Jr., and mother, Mary, built a strong foundation on spiritual truths that demonstrated love daily in practical ways. The three-bedroom mobile home Luther was raised in with four other brothers and a sister was never too small to share with a family in need. “My parents believed in the ‘Golden Rule,’” said Luther. “Treat people the way you wish to be treated. If you don’t want it done to you, don’t do it to them” (ref. Matthew 7:14).

As the son of a minister, church life was front and center. And with every church service and event, there was always music. Early on, the six children (in birth order), Tony, Stephanie, Luther, Jamie, Carl, and Rodney, were blending their voices in worship. Eventually, Stephanie (McCloud) turned her focus to raising a family, and the five remaining siblings became known as The Wardlaw Brothers.

Inspired by the harmonies of groups like Boyz to Men and Take 6, their music brought together the depth of soul and the improv of jazz. Luther graduated from Toombs County High School in 1995 and added knowledge and hard work to his gifting with a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Brewton Parker College.

In addition to his vocal talents, Luther also developed skills as a musician. Today, he is proficient on every instrument in the brass and woodwind family (which includes the trombone, trumpet, tuba, baritone, saxophones, flute, and clarinets), piano, organ, and drums.

In 2000, The Wardlaw Brothers recorded their first album called Putting My Life in Your Hands. As the primary songwriter, lead singer, and producer for The Wardlaw Brothers, Luther has written several singles that have topped the billboard gospel charts, including “Right Now Lord”, “Come Through, God's Been There”, and “God Has Kept Me.” The brothers have released five albums, and several of their songs have been nominated for both Stellar and Dove Gospel Music Awards. The group’s hit album Stand There was also #1 on Billboard’s gospel sales chart.

The Wardlaw Brothers have performed nationwide and for organizations such as the National Baptist Convention and the NAACP National Convention. They have also performed on major networks and programs, including BET, UPtv, TBN, Bobby Jones Gospel, Yolanda Adams Morning Show, Good Morning America, and Family Feud with Steve Harvey. (A clip of the performance and Harvey’s response can be viewed at www.twb5.com.)

In 2016, the Wardlaw family faced the unimaginable. While serving as chief executive officer of TWI Counseling, Tony, the oldest of the six Wardlaw children, was charged with fifteen counts of Medicaid fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit Medicaid fraud. In addition, several other family members who held positions in the counseling service also faced charges. “All of them were found not guilty,” said Luther. “Tony was acquitted on all Medicaid fraud charges but convicted on the one count of conspiracy to commit Medicaid fraud. It was insane. The judge sentenced him to five years, the maximum sentence possible.”

Even with all their community work and service, people they had known all their lives distanced themselves. Thankfully, others stepped in closer and wrapped their arms around them. “We had grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. We stepped up and took care of my brother’s family,” said Luther. “And God moved and turned things around in a matter of months. Tony went to prison in November 2016 and was home by February 2018.” A music video of “God Has Kept Me,” a song Luther wrote from this experience and performed by The Wardlaw Brothers can be viewed on YouTube. (It’s so good I had to watch it several times.)

Having a family member incarcerated was now personal for Luther. The experience gave him a front-row seat to a world of need he had never known. “When I looked into this world deeper, I realized this was a major crisis. Most people don’t have the kind of support system we had for my brother’s family while he was in prison. But then, when the person finally gets out of prison, they are faced with trying to start over. Simple things like finding employment and housing are major issues. And if they can’t find work, they can’t pay the fees they hit you with while on probation. Honestly, it is one obstacle after another,” said Luther.

He could have looked at the whole system and thrown up his hands. He had his brother home again. Besides, what could one person do? But, in October 2019, Luther proved what one person could do when he established a nonprofit organization called Rei’L Ministries Worldwide Incorporated. At the beginning of this article, I asked, Why? What was Luther’s motivation? How he did so much was never the right question. When you’ve got a fire in your bones for something, it empowers you and gives you grace.

Rei’L Ministries has teams in Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Illinois, and Mississippi. These teams are volunteers, many with full-time jobs and responsibilities. These are true heroes of the day. The ministry involves a 13-week program and partners with Reentry University and Youth Intervention Academy. By partnering with other organizations, Rei’L can provide a variety of services for both families of the incarcerated and those struggling to reenter society, including mental health therapy, housing, mentoring, a GED program, transportation, and job skills and career training, just to name a few.

“We’ve helped former inmates get jobs with UPS, Dot Foods, and Amazon,” said Luther. “We also partner with ‘Lieutenant Curtis’ in Chicago. He has a graduate program that can provide certification for things like solar installation and firefighter certification. When former inmates graduate from this class with Lieutenant Curtis, they can go to work anywhere in the United States. Last year, we saw about 340 graduates from the program.”

Rei’L Ministries has worked with over sixty men since its beginning. When I met with Luther, a middle-aged man just released from prison was with him. Three more hoping to join the program were expected to be released by the end of the month. “We’re working every day to try to partner with other employers, realtors, landlords. Housing is a big deal,” said Luther. “There are so many empty buildings, old schools, and gyms abandoned just sitting there. Places like that could be repurposed for housing,” said Luther. (For more information and to contribute to this ministry, go to www.reilworldwide.org)

Luther's family is his greatest inspiration. He is the proud father of Kennedy Marie, Martin Luther II, Lyric Alexandria and Ava Rei'L

The ministry was named Rei’L for its special meaning. It was a meaning Luther himself defined. “Rei’L is the middle name of my youngest daughter, Ava,” said Luther. “She was born in 2018, the same year Tony was released from prison. Rei’l was a combination of letters from the names of her parents. This was Luther’s second marriage, but it was not to last. Shared custody involved going back and forth between Lyons and Nashville for thirty-day stays. (Ava now resides in Georgia fulltime with her father as the primary custodial parent.)

“During that time, Ava taught me so much about resilience and strength,” said Luther. “I decided to petition the Library of Congress to make it a word. I wrote my own definition, and they accepted it. It means “Very sturdy and unable to be bent or moved. Immovable. Unprecedented strength and resilience.’”

Ava had a great example to follow. Luther’s example wasn’t perfection; it was humility. “Even though I could do nothing to fix this, I struggled with rejection and shame. My parents have been married fifty years,” said Luther. “We don’t divorce. Marriage is sacred. Here I was now going through a second divorce.” But amid the tormenting voices of disappointment and failure, Luther had a revelation. He wasn’t a man without sorrow, but he was a man without shame.

Music production and management are some of Luther's latest ventures. Above, he works on the film score for The Perfect Mate.

Regret and shame are a deceptive counterfeit of humility. True humility is the only soil in which grace can take root. The founder of Moed Ministries, Grant Mahoney, once said, “Pride can degrade the highest of angels into devils, and humility can raise fallen flesh to the thrones of Heaven.” Humility brings a revelation to the heart of complete dependence on God. God’s love wasn’t just a good sermon to preach at people, but the song in Luther’s heart that woke him up each day with new mercies. For him, being a single father was about as close as he was ever going to get to understanding how much God loved him. (Luther is the very proud father of four children: Lyric Alexandria, Martin Luther II, Kennedy Marie, and Ava Rei’L.)

Luther continues to create avenues of service with his record label Ascension Records, and a management company called Ascension Entertainment Management. One of Luther's most recent clients is Quinton Aaron, “Big Mike” from The Blind Side. Aaron recently completed his first single for an upcoming album, which he recorded in Luther’s top-notch recording studio in Lyons. “We met on the set of Blue Lightning,” said Luther, one of the film's coproducers. Derby Hill at Callaway Park in Lyons is one of the main settings for the movie Blue Lightning, which was filmed almost entirely in Toombs County. Blue Lightning debuted at the Blue Marquee Theatre in downtown Lyons on January 28, 2023. The film is now available on the Pure Flix streaming service.

In addition to the long list of talented singers, models, actors/actresses, and performers signed to Ascension Entertainment Management, Luther also made his acting debut in The Perfect Mate (2020), now available on Amazon Prime.

I suppose the only thing Luther had yet to undertake was a restaurant and a clothing line (for now, at least). The first happened in December 2022 when Luther and his brother Tony opened The County Seat on Victory Drive in Lyons. It’s a great asset to our community and has fantastic home-cooked food. “We run it,” said Luther. “But if Mama comes in and wants something done differently, there are only two words to say: ‘Yes, mam.’”

Luther's management group represents actor Quinton Aaron who played in The Blind Side and Blue Lightning, which was partially filmed in Lyons, Georgia.

The second undertaking, a clothing line, will be available in August 2023. The name of Luther’s clothing line is “Altar Before Anything.” “It’s a reminder that before we do anything, take it to the altar. Before every decision, go to the altar,” said Luther.

Covering all the many platforms from which Luther stands was no small task. And I haven’t even mentioned his first solo single, released in 2021, “On the Way.” I began this article by comparing Luther to the guy given five talents in the “Parable of the Talents” (Bible ref. Matthew 25). In the story, Jesus says that the one given the most used what he had been given to double it. The one given the least hid that which he had in fear because he perceived the Gift-giver as harsh and demanding. His wrong perception cost him. In fact, his one talent is taken from him and given to the guy with the most. It doesn’t sound fair, does it? But this isn’t about being fair. It’s about being faithful. That’s Luther. He has no fear of disappointing God because of mistakes. He can be trusted because he knows the Gift-giver is a loving Father. And that’s something Luther fully understands.