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Back in the 50's there was a well known radio
host/comedian/song writer in Hollywood named Stuart
Hamblin who was noted for his drinking, womanizing,
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".
And along came a young preacher holding a tent
revival. Hamblin had him on his radio show, presumably
to poke fun at him. And to gather more material, Hamblin
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 Hamblin 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 am. 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 am 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, quit everything that was "fun".
And began to lose favor 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, an old friend named John
took him aside and told him all your troubles started
when you "got religion" and asked if it was worth it
all. Stuart answer was simple, "Yes".
Then his friend said, "You liked your booze so much.
Don't you ever miss it?" And the 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 Stuart
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." etc...
By the way, the friend was John Wayne, and the young
preacher who refused to pray for Stuart Hamblin was
Billy Graham. |