The Criminal Mind

Okay, I hear you. I've been so obsessed about the East Coast launch of the coolest Christian clothing store in the country, as well as the new Church Campus I am helping launch, that I have neglected to talk much about my first love, the Living Word Christian Bookstore. I do apologize for that. Many of my employees have said they feel like the Red Headed Stepchild sometimes, and we're doing everything we can to prevent that.

So how's the bookstore doing? Very well. The community continues to support us, and in an industry where Christian bookstores are dropping like flies we are continually trying to stay relevant to culture, and have seen growth and stability because of that. We are a healthy business and show no sign of decrease in sales, praise God.

However, if we do go out of business, I can tell you why it would happen... theft. I am continually shocked at how much stuff gets stolen from this bookstore. Just today, one of my employees brought in four jewelry bags from four Bob Siemon "True Love Waits" Rings. For those of you that do not know, a "True Love Waits" ring symbolizes the promise of sexual purity between a person and God/their future spouse. So basically I had someone steal four symbols of sexual purity. Makes you glad you're in the biz, don't it? We're staying sexually pure, but evidently the other nine commandments don't mean much! It's not just rings, either. Over the past 3 months I've had Gospel CDs valuing over $4,000 (retail) get stolen from the store as well.

All this begs another question: who wakes up in the morning and thinks, "Hey, I'm going to go rob that Christian store..." And once again, for the record...when we go out of business it will be because we've literally been robbed out of business. Honestly, I'm afraid to look at how much stuff is getting stolen because I'm too afraid of what I'll find.

Have a Merry Christmas! Show some love to your local retailers. It's not just the Christian Stores getting ripped off either. And if you see some guy peddling "True Love Waits" rings on the street, tell him Jeff at the Living Word says hello.

Comments

[Jon]

That's amazing Jeff...I can't believe that much stuff gets taken!