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(Read to the end. You might be surprised!)
Back in the 50's there was
a well known radio host/comedian/song writer in Hollywood named Carl
Stuart Hamblen who was noted for his drinking, womanizing, and partying,
etc. One of his bigger hits at the time was "I won't go hunting with
you Jake, but I'll go chasing women."
One day, along came a young
preacher holding a tent revival. Hamblen had him on his radio
show, presumably to poke fun at him. In order to gather more
material for his show, Hamblen showed up at one of the revival meetings.
Early in the service the preacher announced, "There is one man in
this audience who is a big fake."
There were probably others
who thought the same thing, but Hamblen was convinced that he
was the one the preacher was talking about (some would call that
conviction). But he was having none of that.
Still the words continued
to haunt him until a couple of nights later he showed up drunk at the
preacher's hotel door around 2 a.m. demanding that the preacher pray for
him! But the preacher refused, saying, "This is between you
and God and I'm not going to get in the middle of it." But he did
invite Stuart in and they talked until about 5 a.m. at which point
Stuart dropped to his knees and with tears, cried out to God.
But that is not the end of
the story. Stuart quit drinking, quit chasing women, Quit everything that
was 'fun.' Soon he began to lose favour with the Hollywood crowd. He was
ultimately fired by the radio station when he refused to accept a beer
company as a sponsor. Hard times were upon him. He tried writing a couple
of "Christian" songs but the only one that had much success was
"This Old House," written for his friend Rosemary Clooney
As he continued to
struggle, a long time friend named John took him aside and told him,
"All your troubles started when you 'got religion.' Was it worth it all?"
Stuart answered simply, "Yes." Then his friend asked, "You
liked your booze so much, don't you ever miss it?" And his answer
was, "No."
John then said, "I
don't understand how you could give it up so easily." And Stuart's
response was, "It's no big secret. All things are possible with
God." To this John said, "That's a catchy phrase. You should
write a song about it." And as they say, "The rest is
history."
The song Carl Stuart
Hamblen wrote was "It Is No Secret."
"It is no secret what God can do. What He's
done for others, He'll do for you.
With arms wide open, He'll welcome you. It is no
secret, what God can do."
By the way, the friend was
John Wayne. And the young preacher who refused to pray for Stuart
Hamblen? That was Billy Graham. Share this with your
friends.
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