I’m restarting my series of weekly interviews with some of my favorite bloggers.

As I rediscover the Church, I’m finding that it is huge and God gives so many of us great things to say in our blogs. He has also given many of you out there an incredible ability to write clearly and in such a way that it is easy to read and understand what God is asking you to say.

These interviews are to hopefully help you find great new blogs to read and to give you a chance to learn a little more about the people behind those blogs.

The first interview was with Kevin Martineau, read it here.

This week’s interview is with a man who made a huge impact on my life last year and who has a testimony and ongoing walk with Christ which I believe can teach and inspire us all.

This week’s interviewee is: Joe Stallard of the eponymously titled JoeStallard.com

To start off, who are you? 

For me, that’s kind of a tough question so I’d like to give you two answers.

• From a spiritual standpoint, I’m sure not who I used to be. I would characterize myself as someone that went from:
  a.) being agnostic (almost to the point of atheism), to:
  b.) becoming a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, to:
  c.) no longer being “just a believer” – now I KNOW, beyond any shadow of a doubt.
• From a personal standpoint, I’ve spent most of my adult life transitioning through a variety of fields – beginning in the medical field, moving into medical equipment sales, entering the auto field and the finance industry. Some of my favorite activities include woodworking, photography, auto racing and web design.

What is your blog about?

My personal blog is devoted primarily to chronicling an incredible adventure that I’ve been swept into by the Ancient of Days. Somewhere along the way, I discovered the truth behind the scripture that we’ll find God when we seek Him with our whole heart.

I’m the first to admit that I’ve gotten a little off track a couple of times but that’s really where I try to stay focused when I post on my personal site.

Why did you get into blogging?

Not being a natural ‘blogger’ I’d have to say that I was pushed into it. In July of 2005, I was in the midst of having a heart attack (also known as “the widow-maker”) when it was revealed to me that it was, in fact, a spiritual attack.

I don’t mean to sound melodramatic, but I was supposed to die right then and there. It’s hard sometimes to find the right words to fully describe what took place but – in a nutshell – I was incredibly (read: miraculously) rescued by a personal physical encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Shortly afterwards, God was urging me to tell the story of what happened and the blog came about as an outgrowth of that urging.

How often do you write new posts? 

Infrequently. Sometimes weekly, sometimes only once a month. I’ve been primarily focused on documenting the things that I thought others would find of interest.

Here lately, I’ve really felt an urging to expand into areas other than just my personal experiences and to start writing on a pretty regular schedule (for me, that means once or twice a week).

When I say other areas, I’m referring to more online evangelism and addressing some of the spiritual topics that affect all of us.

What is the best thing about blogging for you?

The single best thing would have to be hearing from the readers who have been encouraged and strengthened their faith through reading the blog.

The second best thing would have to be the making of some truly great friends through the blog.

It’s also been truly amazing to watch how God has used my testimony to reach others. The blog, in its current form, has been online now for just over a year  and it’s drawn a little over 100,000 visitors.

Apart from your blog, which other blogs would you recommend we read ? 

Oh – do you mean other than yours? 🙂

Actually, there are a number of blogs that I personally enjoy. One of the best ones that I enjoy is Ray Comfort’s blog.

I would also mention one that I just recently found called the Mirificam Press. It’s written by Matthew Griffin and, while it’s written about web design from a Christian worldview, his perspective would be just as appropriate when applied to any field of endeavor.

Thank you Joe for agreeing to be interviewed and for sharing with us a little about yourself. I hope that others are blessed and encouraged by your blog.

One quick note to our readers: blogging is a fairly thankless task. We do it because we love it and many of us feel called to do it but a little encouragement helps a lot every now and then. While you are out there on the net reading blogs, please try to leave comments on posts you read even if it’s just to say you’ve been there. A short comment from you will go a long way to encouraging the blogger to keep writing!