The Marben Bland Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Jesus in the Parable of The Parodical Son, tells us that we should celebrate when the lost are found as we reassure the faithful ones who have stayed true to God.    For More Great Content Go To  Marben Bland.com 

Send us Fan Mail While the role of the agriculture economy has grown, the share of Black farmers in the United States has declined over the last century. Today, just 1.4 percent of farmers identify as Black or mixed race compared with about 14 percent 100 years ago.  However, farming is possible for everyone, agriculture consultant and framer James Ford joins The Podcast to talk about the ease of...

Send us Fan Mail Colorectal cancer—cancer of the colon and rectum—is the second leading cancer killer in the United States affecting both men and women.  Your risk increases as you age.  Some people are at even higher risk depending on their personal or family history.  Dr. Shabana Shahid MD, Board Certified Gastroenterologist with Bethany Medical, joins Dr. Veita Bland, MD to share the good news...

Send us Fan Mail The U.S. government reports 2.2 million African Americans 18 or older meet the criteria for a substance use disorder.  Dr. Louis Baxtor, Sr. MD, Director of Addiction Medicine Fellowship Program at Howard University joins Dr. Bland for a wide-ranging discussion about addiction in the African American Community including the five categories of addiction treatment.   For More Great...

Send us Fan Mail Listen as Sister Linda Butler and Sister Helen Marberry deliver impactful messages as Greater Saint Peter celebrated family and friends day on Sunday, March 13th.     For More Great Content Go To  Marben Bland.com 

Send us Fan Mail Charles Richardson joins the podcast for his monthly chat about the headlines.  Recorded on Tuesday, March 15th our topics include the Ukraine War, bills under consideration by the Georgia General Assembly including new mental health funding.  For More Great Content Go To  Marben Bland.com 

Send us Fan Mail A fire and brimstone preacher is telling her parishioners if they don’t repent, they will die to face Hell’s damnation cutoff for eternity from God’s love.  In “The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree” (Luke 13:6-9) Jesus uses a fig tree, barren without fruit as a metaphor for the sinner who has not repented. The owner of the tree is frustrated because for three years no fruit has been...

Send us Fan Mail The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? Are the triumphant words of confidence from Psalm 27.  However, in our world today there is so much to fear.  There is fear on our television screens as we watch in horror the insanity in Ukraine.  There is still fear because despite the good news COVID 19 remains deadly.  There is fear at the pump as gas prices continue to...

Send us Fan Mail In 1968, “Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing” became a number one smash hit for the duet of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.  Written by the iconic husband and wife team of Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson, the song extols the virtues of and defines real love as an in-person encounter.   The “real thing” of in-person love is counter to love that is long-distance in nature. So, t...

Send us Fan Mail It’s Tuesday, March 1, or Mardi Gras which is French for Fat Tuesday.  It’s called Fat Tuesday because it is the last day of feasting before the Christian season of Lent.   For Christians Lent is a time of fasting so Mardi Gras Fat Tuesday if you will is a time of preparation for the fast, not necessarily by getting that last Chick-fil-A sandwich in but by asking God’s help for th...

Send us Fan Mail The Beijing Winter Olympic Games are over.    For nearly two weeks athletes from around the world competed in speed skating, the ski jump, the bobsled, and my favorite curling.   While I prefer the Summer Olympic sports the 100-meter dash, the long jump, and my favorite the shot put. I still marvel over the discipline, and courage it takes to ice skate on a blade no thinner than a...

Send us Fan Mail Saints this has been a week of transformation with significant ramifications for the people in our neighborhoods.     The neighbors worldwide have been shaken by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  Back in America neighbors are happy with the easing of COVID restrictions with the hope that a more normal life can return. Neighbors in our African American community are rejoicing becau...

Send us Fan Mail The Song “To Be Young, Gifted and Black ” was written by Nia Simone and her bandleader Irvine Weldon as an homage to Lorraine Hansberry, the “A Raisin in the Sun” playwright after her death in 1965.   In Matthew 19:13-15 Jesus pays homage to the young and gifted when he says “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like thes...

Send us Fan Mail Today’s Devotional:  Justice & Equity  Psalm 99 is a hymn of praise of God’s holy and righteous rule.  In stanza 4 God is called a “Mighty King”, a lover of justice who has established equity in the execution of justice and righteousness.   In the closing days of this year’s Black History Month, celebrated in the mist a pandemic that revealed more deeply than ever the racial d...

Send us Fan Mail The conventional things that kills everyone, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, kills Blacks more and at a faster rate than Whites.   Dr. Keith C. Ferdinand, MD, Gerald S. Berenson Professor of Medicine in Preventative Cardiology, joins Dr. Bland for a discussion of health disparities and how they are affecting people of color.  For More Great Content Go To  Marben Bland.com 

Send us Fan Mail "Why Are They Uncomfortable?" is the second sermon of Pastor Marben Bland’s Black History Month Sermon Series.  Teaching from Luke 4:14-30 Pastor Marben talks about how God’s word can make us feel uncomfortable, along with the comfort that God’s truths can bring to all of us.   (Recorded: February 13, 2022) For More Great Content Go To  Marben Bland.com 

Send us Fan Mail Superbowl Sunday is a day filled with hype.  We hype the food, we hype the parties, we hype the commercials and yes, we hype the game.   Despite all the hype Superbowl, Sunday will be an uncomfortable day.   It will be an uncomfortable day for the players who will be injured playing a game for our entertainment.  It will be an uncomfortable day for the quarterbacks when the pass r...

Send us Fan Mail Pastor Marben answers the question; Why We Study Black History by looking at John 1:43-46 and sharing how the rejection of Jesus can give us motivation in telling our history.    For More Great Content Go To  Marben Bland.com 

Send us Fan Mail John 1:43-51 describes the calling of Philp and Nathanael by Jesus.   As the Superbowl approaches folks in Cincinnati and Los Angeles have taken great pride in being from there and having their teams in the Big Game.  Philp and Nathanael took great pride in being from the city of Bethsaida. They thought that being from Bethsaida made them superior.   They believed in their superio...

Send us Fan Mail In 1968, “Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing” became a number one smash hit for the duet of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.  Written by the iconic husband and wife team of Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson, the song extols the virtues of and defines real love as an in-person encounter.   The “real thing” of in-person love is counter to love that is long-distance in nature. So, t...

Send us Fan Mail This week I have been thinking and praying about the notion of being overwhelmed.  The pandemic has shown us the increasing, demanding, and complex challenges of our lives. Our typical response to these demands is to work harder, rather than to step back and figure out a better way to work.  In leading the Israelites Moses, had a complex, demanding and difficult job.  Moses was as...

Send us Fan Mail Do you feel overwhelmed?  Do you feel helpless, because you know that you are the only one who can do what needs to be done?  Whatever the task is you know that it cannot be done without you.  It does not matter if you are overwhelmed the burden is yours and yours alone.   In the 18th chapter of Exodus Moses was overwhelmed.  As the Israelites languished in the wilderness they fus...

Send us Fan Mail Exercise physiologist and master trainer Hilton Ferguson joins Dr. Veita Bland to discuss the five components of physical fitness, trends in physical fitness, and the importance that rest plays in keeping fit.   For More Great Content Go To  Marben Bland.com 

Send us Fan Mail listen to Pastor Marben's teaching from Psalm 19 about the power of God can lead us to a lifetime of us performing acceptable acts.  The sermon features a tribute to Tuskegee Airmen, General Charles E. McGee.  Recorded January 23, 2020 For More Great Content Go To  Marben Bland.com 

Send us Fan Mail What is an acceptable act?  I believe we all struggle with knowing what an acceptable act is.  Remember when you were at that fancy dinner, and you did not know which fork was acceptable to eat your salad with?  Or when you got mad, at someone and you grappled if it was acceptable to send them a nasty email, a nasty letter or to just let them have it in a nasty personal exchange. ...