The Marben Bland Podcast
The Marben Bland Podcast is where faith meets real life. Hosted by Pastor Marben Bland, this show features powerful sermons, uplifting devotionals, and engaging interviews with leaders, thinkers, and changemakers. Each episode offers spiritual insight and practical wisdom to help you grow in faith, lead with purpose, and live with impact. Whether you're on your morning walk or your evening drive, tune in for thoughtful content that feeds the soul and inspires action.
Episodes
573 episodes
Women Belong
Recently, the Southern Baptist Convention voted to move closer to a permanent ban on women serving in pastoral leadership roles. While I respect each denomination's right to interpret Scripture as it understands it, I reach a different conclusi...
Every Vote Counts: Building Power Through Civic Engagement
Does your vote really matter? According to former Georgia State Representative Karen Bennett, the answer is a resounding yes.In this insightful episode, host Marben Bland sits down with Bennett to discuss the power of voting, the challen...
Is Anything Too Wonderful for the Lord?
When Sarah heard God's promise that she would have a son in her old age, she laughed. The promise seemed impossible. After all, Abraham is ninety-nine years old, and Sarah is nearly ninety.Yet God responded with a question that still cha...
Sermon: Follow Me - The Secret of Great Leadership
What if the greatest leaders are not those who lead first, but those who learn to follow? In this powerful message from Matthew 9:9, Pastor Marben Bland explores Jesus’ call to Matthew the tax collector and reveals a timeless truth: leadership ...
Called To Follow
In Matthew 9:9–13, Jesus does something remarkable—He calls Matthew, a tax collector, to follow Him. Matthew was not considered righteous or respectable by society. Yet Jesus saw beyond his past and into his potential. With two simple words, “F...
Your Best Days Are Still Ahead
These are the five signs that you're aging with power, purpose, and promise. So if you can stillpray like Simon, you're aging with power. If you can still climb mountains like Jacob, you're agingwith purpose.If you can stil...
The Five Signs That You Are Aging With Power, Purpose, and Promise
Are your best days behind you—or could God still have greater things ahead? In this inspiring 28-minute sermon, Pastor Marben Bland explores five biblical signs that reveal whether we are aging with God's power, purpose, and promise....
Devotional: Aging with Power, Purpose, and Promise
Growing older is not about what we lose but about how God continues to shape and use us for His glory. Through the Holy Spirit, we can still pray faithfully, move with purpose, grow in God’s Word, and remain mentally sharp. The Holy...
Receiving and Walking in Power
Jesus commanded His disciples: "Do not leave Jerusalem until you receive power." God never intended His people to live powerless lives. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in you, providing power for identity, discernment, i...
Walking in Spiritual Discernment
At Pentecost, the Spirit granted supernatural understanding—people heard God's message in their own language. Today, believers urgently need Pentecostal discernment. We live in an age of sophisticated deception, wh...
Discovering Your God-Given Identity
Before God can use you publicly, He must settle you privately. The Holy Spirit's first work is establishing your identity—not in your accomplishments, failures, or others' opinions, but in God's sovereign choice. You are chosen, royal, holy, an...
Healthy Souls, Healthy Bodies: God’s Plan for Total Wellness
Physical and spiritual health are both gifts from God that require intentional care and daily stewardship. The Apostle Paul reminds us in First Corinthians 6:19 that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. Just as prayer, worship, and Script...
Powered by the Holy Spirit : 4 Ways God Empowers You
Everybody wants power. Politicians spend millions chasing it. Corporations fight for it. But Pastor Marben Bland reminds us this Pentecost Sunday that there is a power money cannot buy—the power of the Holy Spirit! In this dynamic 27-minute ser...
Maddox Center Radio Announcement
Grace and peace to the Athens community. I am Pastor Marben Bland of Greater Bethel AME Church. After prayer, careful study, and a unanimous church vote, Greater Bethel has decided to demolish the Maddox Center building within the next 60 days....
Rooted by a Mother’s Faith
This Mother’s Day, we celebrate the power of a mother who plants her children in the right place. In 1 Samuel 2:11 (NRSV), the Bible says, “The boy was ministering to the Lord.” That didn’t happen by accident—Hannah placed Samuel in an e...
Sermon: From The Pit to Purpose
From the pit to the palace—Joseph's story reminds us that what others mean for evil, God can turn for good! Genesis 50:20 declares that even in betrayal, abandonment, and injustice, God is working out His purpose in our lives.You may be ...
From the Pit to Purpose: Staying Rooted When Life Breaks You
“From the Pit to Purpose: Staying Rooted When Life Breaks You”I am Marben Bland, Pastor of the Greater Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Athens, Georgia, with a Living The Word Moment The recent tragedies involving...
Don't Waist The Loss
What can losing teach us about discipleship? More than we often realize. Loss has a way of revealing what success hides. It humbles us, stretches us, and pushes us closer to God. Scripture reminds us in Romans 5:3–4 that suffering produces endu...
Sermon - The Four Hallmarks Of Disciple
The question isn't whether you know Jesus—it's whether you're living like His disciple! In his sermon, " The Four Hallmarks of Discipleship”, Pastor Marben Bland unpacked the foundation of discipleship from Matthew 28:18-20. Jesus didn't just g...
From Believer to Disciple
After the resurrection, Jesus didn’t just celebrate victory—He gave an assignment. In Matthew 28:18–20, He calls us to go and make disciples. This reminds us that faith is not passive—it’s purposeful.A true disciple follows Jesu...
Devotional:What can losing teach us about discipleship?”
Loss has a way of revealing what success often hides. After a tough championship game defeat, University of South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley didn’t deny the pain—she owned it: “We’ve got to figure out how we get better.” That m...
The Promise Of Paradise
The 2nd of the 7 last words of Jesus recorded live at First AME Church, Athens, Georgia The Promise Of ParadiseYou know, as we grow older, we find ourselves thinking about death more often. And if we’re honest, it’s be...
When God Feels Silent
This is one of the most raw and real moments of the cross. Jesus expresses pain, abandonment, and deep anguish. Yet even here, He is quoting Scripture, anchoring Himself in truth.We’ve all had moments where God feels distan...
