The Podcast With Marben Bland

As I write this devotional it has been 29 days four hours and 15 minutes since March 31st of 2024, the day that we celebrated Easter.    The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of our Christian faith. Without the resurrection, the belief in God's saving grace through Jesus is destroyed. The Resurrection was a literal, physical raising of Jesus’ body from the dead, but it set the stage for so much more. When Jesus rose from the dead, he confirmed his identity as the Son of God. When Jesus rose from the dead his work of atonement, redemption, reconciliation, and salvation was proven to be right.  When Jesus rose from the dead the system of obtaining atonement from the priest with offerings and sacrifices died.  Given rise to a glorious direct connection to Jesus for our salvation.  So now that Jesus has risen what has he been doing?   For 40 days after his resurrection Jesus taught and ministered to His disciples.  The Biblical scholar D. Lee Tobler reports that Jesus left the disciples with three messages. 1) His Resurrection was real and all are inheritors of that wonderful gift; (2) His Atonement was completed, but there would be requirements for us to fully partake of its blessings; and (3) His disciples were responsible to carry the message of His gospel to the world.Now as I record this devotional it has been 29 days four hours and 55 minutes since Easter 2024.  And the question is what have we have been up to since the resurrection of Jesus?  Is the Resurrection real to us and what are doing with God’s wonderful gift?  Are we full partakers in the blessings of atonement?  As disciples of Christ are we carrying the message of His gospel to the world?If we haven’t been busy doing the Lord’s work since the Resurrection, it’s not too late.  The clock is ticking so let’s get busy.    For More Great Content Go To Marben Bland.com

This week the Augusta Conference of The African Methodist Episcopal Church had its Annual Conference.  Pastors make a report at the annual conference.  As part of our report which is a written document in addition to an oral report, I reported that we had zero conversions, meaning no one under our watch during the 2023-2024 conference year gave their lives to Christ.  At Greater Bethel we have one mission one vision one purpose: That is fulfilling the Great Commission Command of Matthew 28:16-20—That command is to make disciples for Christ.  So, there are 52 Sundays in a year.  And each of those Sundays, during the 2023-2024 conference year we had a church service. And during those services, we offered the people in the church, the people watching online, the people listing to the sermon later on a Podcast, we have offered them Christ.  We have offered them salvation we have offered them Jesus.  No one came, no come accepted Jesus.   At Greater Bethel we have one mission one vision one purpose: That is fulfilling the Great Commission Command of Matthew 28:16-20—That command is to make disciples for Christ.  And in the 2023-2024 conference year, we failed, as your pastor I failed.   For no one accepted Jesus.  In 1st Samuel chapter 8 we find that Samuel whom God has appointed as his anointed leader is growing old.  Samuel appoints his sons as leaders.   They do a poor job, and the people are upset. The people of Israel who have never had a king, demanded to have one saying in 1st Samuel 8:6 “Give us a king to lead us,”Depressed and believing that he had failed Samuel prayed to God asking forgiveness.   God answered saying it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.Saints, after offering Jesus every week in our worship service, and our in everyday efforts to offer Jesus on our prayer call, Bible Study, devotional moment and two Sunday Schools. No one accepted Jesus it was not us that was rejected it was Jesus. In every age and in every place, people can, will, and will continue to reject the Jesus. We see Jesus in John chapter 8 verses 58-59 escaping being stoned by an angry mob because they did not like his teaching of the gospel.  The text tells us that our savior was saved to live another day, however, the life of Christ and the life of the followers of Christ is a constant tail of rejection.  Isaiah 53:3 describes Jesus as a person who was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. He was despised, and held in low esteem.Nathanael in John 1:46 rejected Jesus saying, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” In the book The Great Dechurching authors Jim Davis, Michael Graham and Ryan Burge chronicled that America is currently in the middle of the largest and fastest religious shift in the history of our country.  About 15 percent of American adults living today (around 40 million people) have effectively stopped going to church, and most of this dechurching has happened in the past twenty-five years. And with a ton of it happening as churches returned to in person operations after the restrictions of the pandemic.   What does Greater Bethel AME in Athens, Georgia A church with one goal, one mission, one vison which is to make disciples for Jesus do when the people reject Jesus?  What do we do in Athens, Georgia a town with a vast college population?  What do we do in Athens, Georgia a town with diversity from some of the best educated people in the state to go alone whit one of the largest homeless populations in the state? What do we do, what do we do?   As in all things I must tell Jesus.   The text we are studying today is from Matthew 13:For More Great Content Go To Marben Bland.com

Paul in Ephesians 4:12-14 gives Pastors the charge “To equip the saints for the work of ministry, and for building up the body of Christ.  In the African Methodist Episcopal Church Pastors receive a yearly appointment to a church.  The appointment or charge is based on the recommendation of the Presiding Elder and approval of the Bishop. The appointed pastor is in full charge of the Church and is an ex-official member of all boards, organizations, and clubs of that Church.It was my honor to receive my third pastoral appointment for The Greater Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Athens, Georgia.  I received this charge at the recently completed 110 session of the Augusta Annual Conference. A charge to keep I have as I partner in faithful leadership with the people of Greater Bethel to complete our, one vison, one mission and our one goal which is to make disciples for Christ.       For More Great Content Go To Marben Bland.com

Did you know people got so upset at Jesus for teaching the Gospel that he was nearly stoned? In John chapter 8 Jesus in teaching in temple attracting a gathering of people including the scribes and the Pharisees.    Always ready to find fault scribes and the Pharisees presented an adulterous woman.   Siting the law of Moses which demanded stoning they asked Jesus to pass judgment.  Jesus responded saying “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” The ire of scribes and the Pharisees continued to be raised as Jesus asserted that he is the light of the world.  As he foretold his death and resurrection, and as he defines what it means to be a true disciple.  So, it is one thing for Jesus to raise the ire of scribes and the Pharisees however, it is another thing for Jesus to get the regular people mad.  Well, when Jesus said that was not only greater than Abraham but came before him.  That is where the stuff hit the fan, and the folks in the temple picked up stones to kill Jesus.  Always resourceful Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.  The savior was saved to live another day, until the ultimate rejection.  The day the crowd turned on Jesus, exchanging him for Barabbas.  In every age and in every place, people will reject the Lord.  Jesus tells us this in the In the Parable of the Weeds (Matthew 13:24-43) and in other passages.  So much so that we should not be surprised or overreact when it happens.So, what to do when people reject Jesus?  We follow the lead that Jesus taught us in the Parable of the Weeds which is simply be patient and keep presenting the Gospel.   In two drive-through lanes at the Chick-fil-A society we live in we want everything fast.    God has his own timing and while we are all called to make disciples the timing of making is all up to God.    The point for us is to teach the Gospel, in and out of season and as we share the Good News, let’s be patient people will reject Jesus.  However, in the end every knee will bow and ever tong will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.     For More Great Content Go To Marben Bland.com

In a teaching from Luke 5:17-26, Pastor Marben Bland tells the story of how great things happen when people of faith work together.  For More Great Content Go To Marben Bland.com

Coached by the incomparable Dawn Staley, the University of South Carolina Women’s basketball team completed an undefeated season beating the University of Iowa and the sensational Caitlin Clark in the title game of the 2024 NCAA Division One women’s baseball tournament.  For many the win was redemption for the Gamecock’s upset loss to Clark’s Hawkeyes in the semifinals of the 2023 tournament.   However, for Coach Staley the win was because God’s grace.  She put the entire thing in perspective saying, “We serve an unbelievable God,” and her team was the recipient of the uncommon favor of God.  The accomplishments of Dawn Staley and her team shows how great things happen when people of faith work together.  In Luke 5:17-26, we find Jesus teaching the word of God. Gather with him in a small house are folks from Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem.  Also, in the crowd are the Pharisees and teachers of the law, men who are critical of Jesus.  Knowing the power of Jesus to heal a group of four men try to get their paralyzed friend into the crowed house to see Jesus.  But the crowds are too big they can’t get through.  Instead of giving up in defeat the men use their God given creativity “tearing the roof off the sucker” the men lower their friend into the house bypassing the big crows going directly to Jesus.  Jesus heals the man saying to the dismay of the Pharisees, “take your stretcher and go to your home.”It’s abundantly clear be it with the four men in the house that day, or Dawn Stately in the final four.   The uncommon favor of God is there when people of faith work together. Join us tomorrow at Greater Bethel, where we continue to explore God’s uncommon favor in a teaching from Luke 5:17-26 in a teaching entitled Tear The Roof Off The Sucker! The Story Of How Great Things Happen When People Of Faith Work Together.  We worship in person at 140 Rose Street in Athens, with Sunday School with a tasty breakfast starting at 9:30 and worship at 11:00 AM.  Watch the live stream of services on our Facebook page and YouTube channel.  So, until tomorrow, blessings, peace ,and love.   For More Great Content Go To Marben Bland.com

This week marks the 50th anniversary, of Henry Aaron hitting home run number 715.  Breaking Babe Ruth’s record and becoming baseball’s all-time home run king a record later broken by Barry Bonds.  Throughout it all, one of the most important factors in Aaron’s career was his consistent greatness. Great players are often consistently great, but nobody in the history of the game is really in the same neighborhood as Aaron in this regard.How do you get to 755 home runs without ever cracking 50 in a season?  The 538 blog details the unrelenting consistency of Henry Aaron.  Aaron hit 20 or more home runs in a season 20 times, the most of any player in history. He also hit at least 24 home runs every single season from 1955 (age 21) to 1973 (age 39) — a streak of 19 consecutive years. No other player in the history of baseball has done that for more than 15 straight years. In Luke 17:5, the disciples ask Jesus for big faith. However, Jesus tells them that they don’t need big faith—they need consistent faith. As we celebrate the remarkable consistency of Henry Aaron, let us hold consistently to Jesus.  Let us be consistent in prayer, consistent in worship, and consistent in action to share the story of Jesus as we make disciples for Christ.  For More Great Content Go To Marben Bland.com

It has been said that “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”.  Well, that is true until someone doesn’t like the imitation.  There has been great push back regarding Beyoncé new album Cowboy Carter.  With many saying that superstar has no right making a country record and others whispering in not so soft terms that black folks have no place in country music.   Just like most popular music genres, country music in the United States began with Black People. More specifically, the story of country begins with the banjo. The modern-day banjo is a descendant of a West African instrument.  Hillbilly music, which would later be renamed country, became the music of the south. The first hillbilly artists drew inspiration from slave spirituals, field songs, hymns, and the blues, which itself has black origins. To be clear Beyoncé performing country music is not an imitation.  Beyonce’s performing country music is preforming music made in the image of black people.   Genesis chapters one and two reveals the story of the creation of the earth, the plants and of mankind.  In creating mankind God does something he does not do with any of his other creations.  He makes Adam and later Eve in his own image.   Being made in God’s image is not that we physically look like God, rather it means that we have the image of God imprinted in us.   The essence of our being is God.  God is creative – and we can be creative too. God loves us – and we too are capable of love.  God is so forgiving that he gave us Jesus so that our sins are forgiven, setting the stage for us to forgive.  Beyoncé with Cowboy Carter is teaching us to embrace, express and live in the image of our creation which is country music. So, the question before us now is are we living in the images that God has made us to be?  Are we living in God’s image of creation, are we living in God’s image of love, are we living in God’s image of forgiveness?  We can’t escape the image that God has made us to be, but we can repress it.  If you are not living in the image of God a course correction is possible, by praying this prayer with me:   Father, I come as your creation who is not living in your image.  I ask that you come into my life restoring within me the all the elements of your image with in me and it is in Jesus name that I pray. Amen      For More Great Content Go To Marben Bland.com

The theologian Ray Pritz reminds us that God has a library. Unlike a normal library, it is not a place where people come to study. It seems to be more of an archive or official record. Revelation 20 tells us that some of the books in God’s library contain a record of the things we have done.  The story of Mordechai in the book of Esther reminds us that God does not forget our deeds, except when our deeds are forgiven sins which are erased from God’s book in heaven.   (Esther 6:1-3)Malachi 3:16 tells us the remembrance of the faithful who revered the Lord is written in God’s book in heaven.   Listen to Jesus in Matthew 12:36-37 when he says…. “on the day of judgment, you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter, 37 for by your words in God’s book in heaven you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information.  For many Zenola Hardeman Swain is our forever librarian. A woman who provided a gateway to a world of knowledge to generations of young people.  Her professionalism, knowledge, and kindness sparked in me and many other students a lifelong interest in reading, and research. Using the library as the springboard for our intellectual, cultural, and personal pursuits.  While Zenola Hardeman Swain was a fabulous school librarian, it was how she was a librarian for God that is written in the Lord’s book.   Written in the Lord’s book is Sister Swain’s dedication to the Sunday School at Saint Paul AME Church in Clinton, Georgia. Where she used her skills to expand her student’s Biblical knowledge.  Written in the Lord’s book is Sister Swain’s encouragement of the young Christians in her charge.   An encouragement and guidance that I will always treasure.    Written in the Lord’s book is Sister Swain's devotion to her husband the late radio legend Hampton Swain and her loving mothering of their fabulous children Natalie and Jarvis.    So, it is fitting on Easter night, after all the church and family celebrations were done God called his librarian Zenola Hardeman Swain home.    Her book is complete, her official record has been written.  God is pleased, and a bestseller has been left for all of us to read and follow.  Authored by God’s librarian Zenola Hardeman Swain.    For More Great Content Go To Marben Bland.com

On Palm Sunday, we celebrated the powerful scene of Jesus entering Jerusalem on a little donkey cheered by the common people tossing their coats in his path.    In Luke 19: 45-48, the donkey takes Jesus to the temple where he finds instead of prayer, worship, and teaching there was buying, selling and money exchanging.  Jesus drives the buyers, sellers, and money changers out declaring “My house shall be a house of prayer.”   While the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders looked for ways to kill him, Jesus taught in the temple and the people were spellbound.   In America there has been a steady decline in church attendance. A Gallop Poll indicates that less than 30% of the people say they attend church on a regular basis.    Easter is one of those Sundays where many folks who don’t regularly attend church will attend.  With the increase attendance our focus can easily sift to the new clothes, the new people, and the new possibilities they bring.   Into this newness let us not lose sight of what Jesus has called for us to. In our zeal to get these reluctant folks to come back we may revert the church into what Jesus experienced where everything, but the gospel was being taught.  So, let us this Easter let us commit ourselves to the spellbinding Gospel of Jesus, as we make his house a place of prayer, worship, and teaching.  For More Great Content Go To Marben Bland.com

Yolanda Adams in her smash hit song Open My Heart cries out to the Lord saying… “So, show me how to do things your way don't let me make the same mistakes over and over again.”    God through the prophet Jeremiah cries out “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.” In our secular world a covenant is a promise. However, with God a convent is an iron clad pledge of God’s goodness, grace, and forgiveness.  It is that goodness, grace, and forgiveness that is evident in Jeremiah’s decree, for God is making a new covenant because we keep breaking his previous covenants.  Yes, as Yolanda Adams reminds us, we make the same mistakes over and over again. During this Lenten season, let us reflect and be thankful that we serve a God that is good, a God that has grace and a God that is forgiving.   Let us reflect and be thankful that we serve a God that will give us a new covenant despite the fact that we make the same mistakes over and over again.  For More Great Content Go To Marben Bland.com

The Book of Revelation was written to show the servants of the Lord what must soon take place.  Revelation 7:9-10 chronicles a great multitude, more than anyone could number.  The multitude comprised of every nation, all tribes and people and languages stood before the throne and before Jesus.  Clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, the multitude cried with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. As servants of Christ, we can take great hope and comfort that what must soon take place is the second coming of our Lord.  And when it takes place, the people singing the praises of the Lord will be diverse.    These verses from Revelation reveals that God ordered and ordained diversity.  And despite the elimination of diversity and inclusion programs.   The abolishment of black and brown history departments on colleges campuses, and the white washing of the narrative of the minority experience.  Diversity will never go away for the Lord has shown us what must take place.For More Great Content Go To Marben Bland.com

This has been a traumatic week for the University Of Georgia community, as we mourn the death of two young students.   The devastating news penetrates the soul of the vibrant campus testing our resolve.  As we as ask why and question can we be safe, in the place where we learn and live? Answers as they always do will come in time however until then let us take solace in the wisdom of Romans 14:8-9 where Paul writes: “If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.   As untimely, senseless, and shocking as these deaths are Jesus is Lord!  And in this moment of sorrow and grief let us be strengthen in the knowledge that Christ died and was returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.For the two students who have died this week Jesus is with them.  For those who remain Jesus is with us as we pray to our Lord and savior for comfort, guidance, and peace in the days and weeks ahead.   For More Great Content Go To Marben Bland.com

Genesis 2:7 tells us that God created man out of the dust of the ground.  When God breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, the man became a living creature. Yesterday, I learned of the passing of a family friend Gloria Johnson, who died of a heart attack while working out at the gym.   Her death is a reminder that at some point each of us will no longer be a living creature.  Which begs the question, then what?  Right now, the answer to the question “then what” is mourning.  We mourn because Gloria was a wonderful parent, a tremendous grandmother, and a fabulous friend.  As a living creature, she lived with joy, kindness, and faith in a God who guided and ordered her steps. 2nd Corinthians 5:7 tells us that we walk by faith and not by sight.  Now that Gloria is no longer a living creature, let us who mourn her continue in her memory and honor God by walking with faith. For when we do, we can be confident that when the day comes when we are no longer a living creature, we will be like our dear Gloria.  Absent of the body but present with the Lord as we enjoy our new and better reality of no longer being a living creature.  For More Great Content Go To Marben Bland.com

In The Sermon on the Mount, beginning in Matthew 5, Jesus both reinterprets the old law and offers a new law. In essence the new law is about worship not rituals.   As Ash Wednesday approaches, let us follow Jesus and beware of practicing our “piety” during these 40 days is not a ritual, it is an act of worship to the honor and glory of the Lord.  For More Great Content Go To Marben Bland.com

We find a busy Jesus in Mark Chapter 8, he feed thousands from a few loafs and fishes, he healed a blind man at Bethsaida, Peter, declares him the Messiah, Jesus foretells his death on the cross and challenges his disciples saying: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”Six days later in Mark Chapter 9, Jesus Peter, James, and John go up a high mountain.  There he was transfigured before them, his clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them, Elijah, and Moses, appear to talk with Jesus.The voice of God comes from a cloud saying “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”Transfiguration is defined as a complete change of form or appearance into a more beautiful or spiritual state.   Jesus as holy, pure, complete, and busy as he was still able to be transformed to a more beautiful and a more spiritual state.   Like Jesus the chapters of our lives are busy, work, children, meetings, travel, concerns about our health and so much more that take our time our attention and our energy.  God is telling us to listen to Jesus, for Jesus understands the busyness of our lives, Jesus understands the hunger we face, the blindness we experience, and the crosses we must bear. Despite all these things going on, Jesus offers us Transfiguration.  The complete change our appearance into a more beautiful or spiritual state.   Let us follow the voice of God and listen to His Son.   For More Great Content Go To Marben Bland.com

What are you doing to spread the fame on Jesus?  This is the question asked in a sermon from Mark 1:21-28 entitled, “Fame!”For More Great Content Go To Marben Bland.com

Psalm 100 tells us to make a joyful noise unto the Lord.  For 99 years Sister Annie Mildred Hill made a joyful noise.  Keeping God’s promises of Psalm 100. Sister Hill answered the call of Psalm 100 to serve the Lord with gladness.  A faithful wife to her late husband James, a cherished mother to her sons Jimmy and Michael and an outstanding grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great-grandmother.  She was always there, always loving, always praying. Sister Hill obeyed Psalm 100 for she knew the Lord. Joining The Greater Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church at an early age.  She served the Lord with all of her heart all of her soul and all of her mind. Serving as a trustee, a member of the pastor’s aid ministry and for half a century our church musician. Taking over for her mother, and in an environment where musicians can command top dollar Sister Hill refused to be paid. Psalm 100 tells us of God’s wonderful gate which Sister Hill has now entered with thanksgiving.  As we pay tribute to the joyful noise Sister Annie Mildred Hill made on her nearly 100-year life journey where it is crystal clear that she knew the Lord the question for you and me is this: I am saved.If you are not saved pray with me: Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins and surrender my life. Wash me clean. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That he died on the cross for my sins and rose again on the third day for my Victory, I believe that in my heart and make confession with my mouth, that Jesus is my Savior and Lord. It is in Jesus name that I pray let all of us say Amen, Amen and Amen.  If you prayed that prayer with me, you are now saved.  However, your salvation is strengthened when you make it real and active as Sister Annie Mildred Hill did.  So, in her memory and to God’s glory follow Psalm 100 and make a joyful noise to the Lord.   For More Great Content Go To Marben Bland.com

Powered by Evangelical Christians Donald Trump has won the Iowa Caucus.  For these Evangelical Christians immigration was the major issue as they supported a candidate who says God’s children at a border are poisoning the blood of America Agriculture is a major part of Iowa’s economy. The state farms produces nearly 20% of U.S. soybean, corn, and pork.  Meat processing plants dot the landscape contributing greatly to nations supply of Polk and beef.  Ironically almost all the workers in the plants, and in the fields are immigrants of color. Working in the low wage nonunion jobs that was the staple of employment for white immigrants, a century ago. These immigrants many of them who have entered the country illegally, are the lifeblood of agriculture not only in Iowa but throughout the nation. They do the jobs that the white native population will not do. The giant companies that employ them have conspired in an elaborate scheme of don’t ask don’t tell. For they know without them, crops would not be harvested, meat would spoil, and money would be lost. Nevertheless, Evangelical Christians have bought into the lie that God’s children simply by entering into the county are poisoning the country.  Leviticus 19:33-34 commands “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.  The United States is a land of immigrants.  Without question many of the Evangelical Christians who Caucused for Donald Trump descended from immigrants who entered the county illegally. Those descends worked in the same fields, those descents worked in the same plants and those descents came to United States for the same reason as those who at the border now for the opportunity for a better life.  Comprehensive immigration reform will allow America to use it’s God given bounty to greatly change the lives of God’s children around the world.   Perhaps it is the name Evangelical that makes the difference.  However, for this Christian the path forward is clear, we must love the immigrate as we love ourselves, and reject the poison that is coming out of Iowa.  For More Great Content Go To Marben Bland.com

There is a paradox on this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  While many of us will reserve this day for reflection, celebration, and service.  In Iowa the first step in coronation of Donald Trump a man who stands in stark contrast to the Beloved Community, Dr. King and generations have marched, fought, and died is taking place.   Into this paradox comes the liberating power of God’s love.  Colossians 3:14 reminds us that above all love binds everything together in perfect harmony.  Dr. King tells us that Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.  I am under no illusion that Donald Trump and his followers will ever become my friend. However, I am confident that because of the liberating power of God’s love the paradox of this day does not depress me.  The paradox of this day does not distress me. The paradox of this day does deflate me.  Rather the liberating power of God’s love energizes me as it should energizes you. As we depend on the promise of Act 10:37 which declares God anointed Jesus with the power of the Holy Spirit to heal the oppressed.  To be Black in America is to be oppressed.  But take heart God is on our side.  And on this paradoxical day when the oppression of white supremacy is on fully display as the GOP and the media allows lily white Iowa to take center stage. Dr. King still speaks telling us that "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.  It is the liberating power of God’s love that will sustain us as we continue to fight, strategize, and toil as we do the work of justice.  For we shall overcome.     For More Great Content Go To Marben Bland.com