James received his doctorate from the University of Kansas Medical Center and practiced physical therapy and wound care before he and his wife, Marsha, founded Watered Gardens Ministries in Joplin, Missouri in 2000. True Charity evolved from their mission to champion a resurgence of civil society in the fight against poverty.

His work has appeared in Heritage Foundation’s Index of Culture and Opportunity, Patrick Henry College’s Newsmaker Series, World, The Christian Post, and The Hill. He and Marsha were honored to receive the World News Group Hope Award on behalf of Watered Gardens Ministries in 2019. He has testified before the US House and Senate on issues of welfare reform and is the author of The Crisis of Dependency: How Our Efforts to Solve Poverty Are Trapping People in It and What We Can Do to Foster Freedom Instead.

In his role as Executive Director of Watered Gardens and True Charity, James is responsible for establishing vision and strategy for the ministry.

They have 5 children and 7 grandchildren and love to fish the James River in SW Missouri where they live.