Awaken your faith. Choose love wisely. Build a family that lasts.

Brother James was born James Robert Sims II on July 12, 1949, the eldest of six sons raised by James Sr. and Dee Sims. As the firstborn, he grew up in the middle of it all—the shouting, the finger-pointing, the constant tug-of-war between two parents who never agreed on money, leadership, or direction. There was love in that house. There were good times, too. But they’re the ones that get drowned out in memory by the sound of two parents who never found peace with each other.

His family wasn’t poor by choice—nobody on the block was. Government cheese, bologna, oatmeal, and powdered milk were just what dinner looked like. Brother James didn’t know to call it hardship. He just knew something was missing at home that had nothing to do with money: a plan. A foundation. A way for everybody to win.

By his teens, he was already asking the questions that would define his life’s work. What if some of this could have been worked out before the wedding, not after? What if a longer, more intentional engagement period could have surfaced the red flags before they became decades of chaos? He started asking around and found he wasn’t alone—his friends were wrestling with the same questions about purpose, partnership, and where God fit into any of it.

That question never let go of him. Over the decades that followed, Brother James watched the same pattern play out again and again: couples who fell in love without ever discussing the things that actually make a marriage survive—where to live, how to raise kids, whose credit qualifies for what, how to bank, how to budget. He saw firsthand how a family’s stability—emotionally, financially, and generationally—rises or falls on decisions most couples never sit down to make. And he saw who pays the price when they don’t: the children, caught between two households, two sets of rules, and never quite enough of anything.

Half of all marriages end in divorce, and money is at the root of most of them. Brother James believes that’s not inevitable—it’s the cost of skipping the planning that should happen before the ring, not after the fight. His answer isn’t a sermon. It’s a process: a disciplined, honest engagement period built to expose red flags early, align two people financially before they align legally, and build a family designed to last the way marriage was always meant to.

That conviction became the Soul, Temple, Spirit (STS) framework—a logic-driven, evidence-based approach to faith, partnership, and family that trusts readers to reason their way to their own conclusions rather than being preached at. It’s the foundation of his three-book series: 12 Reasons People Struggle With Faith, Trust, and Life’s Biggest Questions, Date Like a Man—Choose Like a Woman, andShe Said Yes: A Man’s Complete Guide to the Engagement Period and Building a Family That Lasts.

Brother James writes for one reason: to help build a happier, stronger family life—one honest conversation at a time.