The Marben Bland Podcast

Send us Fan Mail “Leadership is the act of influencing others.  Christian leaders do not have the authority of military leaders or the financial incentives of the corporate world to bring influence.    Christian leadership is not rooted in worldly notions of success, such as the love of money or power it is based on service.   Jesus Himself spoke about the importance of serving others in Matthew 2...

Send us Fan Mail Shortly after midnight on June 12th, 1963, Medgar Evers, returned to his Jackson, Mississippi home after an evening of NAACP functions.  As he left his car with a handful of t-shirts that read “Jim Crow Must Go,” he was shot in the back. His wife and children, who had been waiting up for him, found him bleeding to death on the doorstep. His widow Myrlie Evers remembered opening th...

Send us Fan Mail As we celebrate All Saints Day, a time when the church remembers the faithfulness of generations before, it is ironic that we explore a Biblical text showing King David at a moment in which he does not appear very saintly.   David is on the run from King Saul as detailed in 1 Samuel 21:10–15 he attempts to hide anonymously in the camp of a rival King.  However, being the slayer of...

Send us Fan Mail This week we celebrate the life of Richard Roundtree, the actor known best for playing in the title role in “Shaft” has died at age 81.  Shaft is one of the first pictures to show a Black man living as the film critic Maurice Peterson observed in Essence magazine “a life free from racial torment.”  God wants us to live a life free from the torment of legalisms, slavery, and sin.  ...

Send us Fan Mail  Israel's establishment as an independent, sovereign state was officially declared in Tel-Aviv on Friday May 14, 1948, in accordance with UN Resolution 181 which called for the division of the land called Palestine which was governed by the British into a Jewish state and an Arab state.   Israel’s Declaration of Independence proclaiming the founding values of the new state sa...

Send us Fan Mail Ecclesiastes 3 tells us that to everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.  Verse 8 says there is a time to love, and a time to hate, a time of war, and a time of peace. It is a time of war, hate and killing in the Middle East as Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas, in response to the October 7 terrorist attacks that killed 1,400 people simply becau...

Send us Fan Mail The 23rd Psalm is well known and well loved.  Folks who claim not to be quoters of scripture or religious, or faithful know it’s verses.   So why is the 23rd Psalm so popular?   The 23rd Psalm is so popular because we can relate to it.    Key Sermon Points:  1.     We need a shepherd in our lives, and we need to be a shepherd for others.  God has given us shepherd and his name is...

Send us Fan Mail On Saturday, October 7 Hamas, the militant group that controls the Gaza Strip launched a multi-pronged attack on Israel.  Over a thousand Israelis have been killed, hundreds have been abducted and taken into Gaza. A densely populated, impoverished enclave where millions of Palestinians live under Hamas and an Israeli blockade, that has turned Gaza into what has been called the wor...

Send us Fan Mail Sermon: What Happens When The Priest Are Corrupt  Corruption is defined as dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power.  Corruption is alive and well in the United States as these resent cases indicate  In a sermon from Malachi chapter one, Pastor Marben Bland, extends God’s message about corruption and how to honor him.  Key Teaching – 3 Godly Ways To Avoid Corruption 1. St...

Send us Fan Mail   A lament is a prayer expressing sorrow, pain, or confusion.   In Chapter 5 the prophet Amos calls for the people of the house of Israel to hear a lamentation, a funeral song announcing the death of the nation.    In a teaching from Amos 5:21-24 Pastor Marben Bland makes the Biblical Case For Environmental Justice in a teaching entitled: “The Waters Of Justice.” Key Points:  Envi...

Send us Fan Mail In Chapter 5 the prophet Amos calls for the people of the house of Israel to hear a lamentation, a funeral song announcing the death of the nation.   Israel has died because of the injustices committed by the wealthy and powerful members of the community who take advantage of the poor and the needy. Israel has died because of the worship practices of the people.  Who without enthu...

Send us Fan Mail In a sermon from Matthew 10:1-4 Pastor Marben Bland teaches about The Apostles’ Creed Key Points:  1. Jesus called is Apostles to be more than followers.  2. Being an Apostle is a difficult honor.   3. We are all called to be an Apostle For More Great Content Go To  Marben Bland.com 

Send us Fan Mail For those of us who champion justice the words of Amos 5:24 “let judgment run down like waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream” are our marching orders.    They are the marching orders to fight racism, gun violence, the lack of affordable housing, health disparities, political mayhem, and so many other woes in our society.     But what about the waters from which God has ord...

Send us Fan Mail  To be an apostle is to be an emissary, and ambassador an envoy.  In Greek an apostle derives from a word meaning one who is sent off to convey a message, to do a task, to be of service.    Realizing that the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; Jesus prayed to God the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.  The Gospels Matthew, Mark, and Luke each p...

Send us Fan Mail Sermon: Lord Forgive Us In a teaching from Genesis 50: 1-22 Pastor Marben Bland talks about the benefits of forgiveness.   Key sermon point:   When we exercise forgiveness, we Receive God’s Blessing  “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”  Luke 11:28. When we exercise forgiveness, we are living out God’s plan and blessings for our lives.   When we exercise forgi...

Send us Fan Mail The mirror clearly shows it, my boyish looks have given way to lines, crowfeet, and a grey and receding hairline.  Daily aches and pains have become constant companions.  A red, white, and blue card has arrived in my mailbox providing government issued insurance bringing a measure of social security to my life.  The comfort, warmth and fun of grandchildren, the memories of family,...

Send us Fan Mail   From June 26 to July 7, of this year I had the great honor of making my second pilgrimage within a years’ time to the Holy Land. Traveling with a group of 30 pastors from the US and Canada.  We were led Rabbi Brad Hischfied and Rabbi Joshua Stanton along with scholar The Reverend, Doctor Brian Maguire, and our local guide Gray Kamen.  Our group spent two weeks sanding and seeing...

Send us Fan Mail During my school days at Jones County High School in Gray, Georgia a bunch of us football players perhaps searching for an easy class, found a Philosophy course taught by Tommy Walker.   Mr. Walker introduced us to the great philosophersAristotle, Socrates, Confucius, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  However, the greater philosopher we found in that class was Tommy Walker.    The philosophy,...

Send us Fan Mail A job description listing the seven top traits for being a pastor was posted online.  Among them were being a professional speaker, a counselor a fundraiser, a master of ceremonies and being a pillar of virtue.   We all have traits for being successful in our job descriptions, but God wants us to be successful in life.   Romans 12:9-21, provides an excellent list of traits for God...

Send us Fan Mail The saints in the early church had questions regarding life after death.  In the fifth teaching in the Six Fundamental Questions Our Faith sermon series Pastor Marben Bland, presents Paul’s answer about an afterlife from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.     Key Teaching Points:   1. As Christians unlike the rest of the world we have hope regarding death. Brothers and sisters, we want you...

Send us Fan Mail As humans we are skeptical creatures.  We question the motives of religious, sports and political leaders.   We question the value of an education, we question which college football team is #1, we even question the reason why folks should wear masks during a deadly pandemic.      However, the one thing we human do not question is death.  Dying is undebatable it is a matter of whe...

Send us Fan Mail Bob Barker, the host of the Price Is Right for 35 years has died at age 99.  A beloved fixture on television for over half a century Barker was known for his unwavering advocacy for animal welfare issues.   Devoting his name along with significant amounts of his wealth, to programs to end animal cruelty and reduce pet overpopulation. The most visible element of that passion was Ba...

Send us Fan Mail Make No Mistake It Was Racially Motivated. Making Godly Sense Out Of Another Bad Thing That Has Happen  A white man arrived at the gates of Edward Waters University, a historically Black college in Jacksonville Florida.  He was turned away by university security because he refused to identify himself.    Several blocks away was a Dollar General Store, the man put on a bulletproof...

Send us Fan Mail Grief the deep sorrow caused by the loss of an opportunity, the end of a relationship or the death of a loved one will come to us all.   On June 11th, 1983, the theologian Nicholas Wolterstorff got the call that is every parent’s nightmare, Eric his 25-year-old son had been killed in a mountain climbing accident.    Writing about his grief in the landmark book Lament For A Son, Wo...

Send us Fan Mail In the third sermon from the Six Question Sermon Series, Pastor Marben Bland, discusses how God wants us to build what is called the beloved community.    Key Points From The Message Based On Romans 14:10-23   1. Paul Tells Us To Stop Judging Each Other – Because God Is The Only Judge  10 So why do you judge your brother? Or why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand...