It is no secret

Back in the 50's there was a well known radio host/comedian/song 
writer in Hollywood named Stuart Hamblen 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."
 
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 2AM 
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 
women, quit everything that was 'fun.' Soon he 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, 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.


It really is no Secret.