“Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.”

~Elbert Hubbard

please allow me to slip into something more comfortable - third-person narration.

Justin Cox doesn’t take himself too seriously. For example, the above selfie was taken in front of a strawberry-print shower curtain.

However, here is his attempt to seriously describe himself.

Justin has been called many things, some of which cannot be repeated here. Others that can are ordained minister, late-night baker, displaced Southerner, and storyteller. He somehow manages to be all things simultaneously.

Justin's writings have appeared in Mockingbird Magazine and the Baptist Peacemaker. He’s a regular contributor at Salvation South, Baptist News Global, Good Faith Media, and The Christian Citizen. Justin thanks these fine folks for their willingness to pay him to ramble about his interests, which often include food, faith, and his South Central Appalachian upbringing. He hopes this trend of compensation continues to offset his condiment habit of Duke’s mayonnaise and Texas Pete hot sauce.

Justin has been in and out of classrooms since he was four years old. His introduction to higher ed began when he was kicked out of a Baptist preschool for urinating on the playground during recess. He has found better success and longevity in theological education. It is unknown if he urinated on the campuses of Campbell University, Wake Forest School of Divinity, or Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology where he somehow earned a doctorate.

In 2025, Justin returned to his beloved South with two children and one spouse. He is the pastor of a local church, where he preaches weekly and bakes goods to drop off at the homes of congregants and neighbors. He talks excessively about a radically inclusive Jesus, the sacredness of Waffle House, baptist iconoclast Will Campbell, and his patron sinner Anthony Bourdain. Sometimes, people ask him to talk about these subjects on podcasts.

If you’d like to chat with Justin, click on the CONTACT link. If he gives you his phone number, he’ll likely not pick up the first few times you call but will promptly return your text messages. If the two of you decide to Zoom, he’ll probably sip bourbon while asking what you ate for lunch.