"It slices, it dices, it chops, it juliennes" were the words which late night television watchers heard for the first time one Friday morning in Chicago beginning in 1964. French fries, carrot sticks, cabbage, onions and cucumbers piled up as Ron Popeil demonstrated how the now famous Veg-O-Matic made easy work of preparing vegetables. The listeners were told in the boisterous tones, "IT REALLY WORKS." The Veg-O-Matic was followed by Chop-O-Matic, Mince-O-Matic, and Dial-O-Matic.

Then Ronco continued to introduce such products as the Steam-A-Way, the Miracle Broom, the Bagel Cutter, the Buttoneer, Seal-A-Meal, and the Hula Hoe. For twenty years Ronco came out with new products which sold on late night television until it hit bankruptcy in 1984 because of the investment into and the failure of the CleanAire machine.

In fact, most products were the result of Ron Popeil personally facing a problem and not knowing of any product which would solve it. For instance, when Sam Popeil, Ron's father, was accidentally poked in the eye with a fishing pole, Ron invented the Pocket Fisherman in 1973. They were so popular that over two million were sold within a year. Ron Popeil, founder of Ronco, built his company on one basic concept: You must show how your product solves a problem.¹

The principle that built Ronco is simple and basic to all of life. People in general want answers to their problems. If people do not feel that they are facing a problem, they are not looking for a solution. At times people's problems are relational and we seek solutions from counselors. Still other problems are physical and we seek solutions from doctors. Yet other problems are financial, and we seek solutions from loaning agencies or the employment ads.

However, we may not realize that some problems of life, and maybe more than we realize, are spiritual in nature. We may well be facing a financial, a relational, an emotional, a marital, or a physical problem because we have violated one of the laws that God has built into His world. Just as there are physical laws that govern our physical world, there are spiritual laws that God has built into His world, that when violated, produce real, felt problems. The solution is to be found in getting in line with God's laws of human behavior as revealed in His Word.

There are also some real problems that we are facing as a society. We, as a society, have violated too many of the laws which God has built into this world and we are now reaping many of the promised results. The new political emphasis on "The Family" and on "Family Values" is proof that many Americans, and even the political leaders, are realizing that we are experiencing a breakdown of the fabric of society, which is the family unit. The various political candidates are peddling their "late night 'MiracleBroom' solutions" that will sweep away society's ills. Unfortunately, because Americans are looking for a solution to our nation's problems, many Americans will "buy it" when the politicians say, "It Really Works" in the November elections.

The solutions to America's problems are not to be found in a political party, but in the return, by individual Americans, to basic moral and biblical principles which founded our country, and which made America strong. America's problems will not find answers until we get serious about re-building the family unit, and that re-building must begin with parents who believe and teach their children that there is right and wrong, that there is the good, the better, and the best; who hold the conviction that all sexual behavior is not equally acceptable; who have and teach a commitment to personal and individual responsibility. God created the world and placed in that world a family. The world did not begin with Adam and Steve, but with Adam and Eve, a mother and a father who equally shared the responsibility for and an interest in their children, a mother and a father who were committed to each other for life, which gives security and stability to the home!

¹ The Encyclopedia Of Bad Taste, Jane & Michael Stern, pgs. 269-270